Dr. Conant is a pioneer in the development of digital mammography, and a leader in research on the use and benefits of early mammography screening and on the role of MRI and PET scanning. She is also the recipient of grants from the National Institutes of Health to compare standard surgical biopsy with digital mammography and stereotactic core breast biopsy.
Early trials of adjuvant therapy in pancreatic cancer had multiple limitations including small sample size, population heterogeneity, and inability to distinguish between components of combined modality treatment.
Greater utilization of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI at the University of California, San Diego, over a 6-year period helped improve surgery planning for tough breast cancer cases without hiking mastectomy rates
The aim of this review is to discuss current neoadjuvant treatment options for soft-tissue sarcomas.
In this case report, we present a non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor who was incidentally found to have non–small-cell lung cancer 30 years after undergoing treatment that included mantle radiation. We discuss the treatment-related risk factors for lung cancer in this population and potential implications for long-term follow-up.
We review the evidence implicating a strong association between chronic inflammation and cancer, with an emphasis on colorectal and lung cancer.
The question that should be posed to those who advocate for lymphadenectomy as a tool to guide the adjuvant therapy of endometrial cancer is: At what cost to the patient is lymphadenectomy performed?
Proteomics is a rapidly emerging scientific discipline that holds greatpromise in identifying novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers forhuman cancer. Technologic improvements have made it possible to profileand compare the protein composition within defined populationsof cells. Laser capture microdissection is a tool for procuring pure populationsof cells from human tissue sections to be used for downstreamproteomic analysis. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(2D-PAGE) has been used traditionally to separate complex mixturesof proteins. Improvements in this technology have greatly enhancedresolution and sensitivity providing a more reproducible and comprehensivesurvey. Image analysis software and robotic instrumentationhave been developed to facilitate comparisons of complex protein expressionpatterns and isolation of differentially expressed proteins spots.Differential in-gel electrophoresis (DIGE) facilitates protein expressionby labeling different populations of proteins with fluorescent dyes.Isotope-coded affinity tagging (ICAT) uses mass spectroscopy for proteinseparation and different isotope tags for distinguishing populationsof proteins. Although in the past proteomics has been primarilyused for discovery, significant efforts are being made to developproteomic technologies into clinical tools. Reverse-phase protein arraysoffer a robust new method of quantitatively assessing expressionlevels and the activation status of a panel of proteins. Surface-enhancedlaser-desorption/ionization time-of-flight (SELDI-TOF) mass spectroscopyrapidly assesses complex protein mixtures in tissue or serum. Combinedwith artificial intelligence–based pattern recognition algorithms,this emerging technology can generate highly accurate diagnostic information.It is likely that mass spectroscopy–based serum proteomicswill evolve into useful clinical tools for the detection and treatment ofhuman cancers.
This video examines the results of a study that looked at the prognostic value of androgen receptor full-length detection using a CTC-based mRNA assay in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients starting treatment with AR-targeted agents.
The incidence of both hepatitis B virus infection and cancer is common. The use of immunosuppressive therapy in patients with hepatitis B virus can result in reactivation of hepatitis B virus, which can, in turn, lead to significant morbidity and mortality.
In a single-center, open, phase II trial, we assessed the toxicity and activity of a triple combination therapy-doxorubicin at 30 mg/m2 (day 1), paclitaxel (Taxol) at 135 mg/m2 (day 2), and gemcitabine (Gemzar) at 2,500 mg/m2
In the United States, cancer of the large bowel is the second most common cause of cancer deaths after cancer of the lung [1]. 1995 estimates place large bowel cancer as the third most common malignancy, behind lung and prostate carcinomas in men and behind lung and breast cancers in women.
Two studies were carried out to determine the activity and evaluate the toxicity of oral chemotherapy with uracil and tegafur in a 4:1 molar ratio (UFT) plus or minus calcium folinate in elderly patients with advanced colorectal
Gastric cancer is the most chemosensitive adenocarcinoma among digestive neoplasms. A few years ago, we performed a phase II trial with the FLEP regimen, in which fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin are combined
Kirby et al are correct in theirstatement that continued controversysurrounds the comprehensivesurgical staging of all patientswith clinical stage I endometrialadenocarcinoma. Such is the case becauselymph node metastasis is foundin only 10% of these patients. Theproportion of patients found to havelymph node metastasis is even loweramong those with grade 1 and 2 tumorswith minimal or no invasion. Ahigh proportion of patients with endometrialadenocarcinoma fall intothis group.
Between 1989 and 1993, 409 evaluable patients with breast cancer have been treated with tegafur and uracil (UFT) in an adjuvant setting in two different trials. Data from both trials were reviewed in December 1995 after a
Between 1989 and 1993, 409 evaluable patients with breast cancer have been treated with tegafur and uracil (UFT) in an adjuvant setting in two different trials. Data from both trials were reviewed in December 1995 after a
Numerous trials have shown that the pharmacokinetic interferences of epirubicin (Ellence)/paclitaxel (Taxol) combinations produce less pharmacodynamic effect than doxorubicin/paclitaxel regimens. Paclitaxel is more easily
The chairman of the Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute at the Cleveland Clinic provides commentary and an adjacent perspective to the Duke Cancer Institute report.
For more than 2 decades, combination chemotherapy has been the standard treatment for patients with small-cell lung cancer. Despite high initial response rates in both extensive- and limited-stage disease, long-term survival
This evolving issue is increasingly concerning, as studies regarding the causes of non-relapse late mortality in childhood cancer survivors consistently include cardiovascular disease as one of the major contributors to this mortality risk.
Total laryngectomy is the surgical procedure traditionally used to treat patients with advanced-stage cancer of the larynx. The impairments resulting from removal of such a small organ are, indeed, profound. They include
Any minimization of therapy in the name of reducing morbidity requires careful consideration. Reducing morbidity in melanoma is certainly a laudable goal, but locoregional disease control and cure must remain our primary objectives.
Lung cancer is the most commoncause of cancer-relatedmortality in the United Statesand worldwide.[1] In the UnitedStates, lung cancer was responsiblefor an estimated 160,440 deaths in2004. This surpassed the combinedmortality resulting from colorectal,breast, and prostate cancer.
In this article, we look at both metastatic hormone-sensitive and metastatic castration-resistant disease, and we highlight several of the emerging categories of advanced prostate cancer that have direct implications for patient management.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is responsible for a significant amount of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. In many countries, including the United States, a definite increase in the incidence of HCC has been
The past decade has given rise toan explosion of rationally designed,molecularly targetedtherapeutic agents. The epidermalgrowth factor receptor (EGFR) hasserved as the principal platform forthe development of such novel targetedtherapies, resulting in a paradigmshift in the treatment of a vast array ofsolid malignancies. Damjanov andMeropol have provided a comprehensiveand insightful overview of the roleof EGFR-directed therapeutics in colorectalcancer. They have chosen tofocus their discussion on the compoundsthat are furthest along in clinicaldevelopment and, hence, havereviewed the monoclonal antibodiescetuximab (Erbitux), ABX-EGF, andEMD 72000, as well as the small-moleculetyrosine kinase inhibitors gefitinib(Iressa) and erlotinib (Tarceva).
The number of lesions detected with low-dose CT, only some of which are early cancers, is so great that algorithms are being developed for more efficient evaluation and management of solitary pulmonary nodules. This article will discuss current tools, approaches, and concerns regarding patient care in this setting.
In 2008, it was estimated that head and neck cancers comprised 2% to 3% of all cancers in the United States and accounted for 1% to 2% of all cancer deaths. This total includes 22,900 cases of oral cavity cancer, 12,250 cases of laryngeal cancer, and 12,410 cases of pharyngeal cancer. Most patients with head and neck cancer have metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis (regional nodal involvement in 43% and distant metastasis in 10%).