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This report describes the Food and Drug Administration's review of data and analyses leading to the approval of the oral iron chelator, deferasirox for the treatment of chronic iron overload due to transfusional hemosiderosis.

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This article reviews the etiology and incidence of renal adverse events in patients with multiple myeloma, the renal safety profile of single-agent carfilzomib from four phase II studies in patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma, and the management of patients with multiple myeloma who receive carfilzomib and are at risk for renal complications.

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The presence of regional nodal metastases represents a significantadverse prognostic factor for patients with squamous cell carcinoma ofthe head and neck. Early-stage head and neck cancers, localized to theprimary site without regional lymph node metastases have excellentcure rates with either surgery or radiation therapy. The presence ofregional metastases results in cure rates that are approximately half ofthose obtainable in early-stage disease. Therefore, due to the significantadverse impact of neck metastases on prognosis, the treatment ofthe neck remains a vital part of the decision-making process in determiningtherapy for head and neck cancer.

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The use of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cellsupport in the past decade has changed the outlook for patients withmultiple myeloma. In newly diagnosed patients, complete remissionrates of 25% to 50% can be achieved, with median disease-free andoverall survivals exceeding 3 and 5 years, respectively. Despite theseresults, autologous transplantation has not changed the ultimatelyfatal outcome of the disease, as there is no substantial evidence of“cure” in most published studies. An additional high-dose chemotherapycourse (with tandem transplants) appears to improve progressionfreesurvival, although the effect is not discernible until 3 to 5 yearsposttransplant. The recent reports of tandem autologous transplant formaximum cytoreduction followed by nonmyeloablative allogeneictransplant for eradication of minimal residual disease appears promisingand deserve further investigation. A central issue of tandemtransplants, whether they involve autologous or allogeneic transplants,revolves around defining the subsets of patients who will benefitfrom the procedure. Good-risk patients (defined by normal cytogeneticsand low beta-2–microglobulin levels), especially those who achievea complete or near-complete response after the first transplant, appearto benefit the most from a second cycle. High-risk patients (defined bychromosomal abnormalities usually involving chromosomes 11 and 13and high beta-2–microglobulin levels) whose median survival aftertandem transplant is less than 2 years should be offered novel therapeuticinterventions such as tandem “auto/allo” transplants. Until theefficacy and safety of this procedure is fully established, it should belimited to high-risk patients.

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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

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Thirty-three metastatic breast cancer patients with prior chemotherapy (adjuvant alone, 9 patients; chemotherapy for metastatic disease alone, 13 patients; chemotherapy for both, 11 patients) received paclitaxel (Taxol) 135

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For the clinician who is facedwith treating individual patients,the article by Ornstein and Petricoinmight raise the famous questionfrom the Wendy’s commercial:Where’s the beef? When we hear ofthese Star Wars technologies and complexexplanations, we are often frustrated.On the one hand, we havenothing to offer our patients right now,and on the other, our patients readabout these technologies and expectthem to be applied right now.

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A better delineation of the relationships between lung cancer, COPD, and emphysema may lead to significant improvements in the effectiveness of lung cancer screening programs, and to reductions in the morbidity and mortality associated with these deadly diseases.

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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

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Historically, patients with retroperitoneal sarcomas have had a poor prognosis. Surgical resection continues to be the standard treatment for these tumors. However, their anatomic location and large size at presentation often

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The widespread use of the TNM staging system has helped standardize the classification of cancers. Despite its excellence in describing a tumor's size and extent of anatomic spread, the TNM system does not account for the clinical biology of the cancer.

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It is ironic that the issue of aggressive local therapy for breast cancer has re-emerged as a controversial issue in the early 1990s, almost 100 years after Halsted proposed this theory in the early 1890s [1]. Since that time, both survival and quality of life seemed to have improved for patients with breast cancer, due to more sophisticated and effective treatments. Nonetheless, as Drs. Pierce and Lichter point out in their article, the precise balance between the benefits and risks of aggressive local therapy still remains to be defined.

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The comparison of brachytherapy and surgery may be done on several levels. This review focuses the comparison on toxicity, the “soft” endpoints of biochemical relapse-free survival and clinical relapse-free survival, and the “hard” endpoint of prostate cancer–specific mortality.

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Given their greater convenience and, in most cases, decreased costs, APBI and AWBI are becoming increasingly popular alternatives to conventional WBI for early-stage breast cancer patients who desire BCT. However, given the protracted time to local recurrence and complications following BCT, definitive results from randomized clinical trials comparing conventional WBI vs AWBI or APBI are limited.

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Dyspnea is defined as a sensation of difficult or uncomfortable breathing. The symptom is highly prevalent among cancer patients with and without direct lung involvement. The gold standard of assessment is based on

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Malignancies have been detected in approximately 40% of all patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) sometime during the course of their illness.

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Intracranial neoplasms can arise from any of the structures or cell types present in the cranial vault, including the brain, meninges, pituitary gland, skull, and even residual embryonic tissue.

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PARP inhibitors are an active, novel, and exciting class of anticancer agents. They have shown clear patient benefit in gBRCA, HR-deficient, and other ovarian cancers.

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Antibody-based targeting of the immune suppressor molecule cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) with ipilimumab has been studied in metastatic melanoma in a number of clinical trials, including a recent phase III trial. This marks the first randomized clinical trial reporting an overall survival benefit using immune modulation in metastatic melanoma. Along with its therapeutic benefits, ipilimumab presents unique challenges to clinicians; these are related to the monitoring of treatment response and the management of drug-related toxicities. This drug is currently being investigated in various cancers, and its indications are likely to be expanded.

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A 60-year-old man presented with lower limb claudication and a painful mass on his left buttock. Physical examination revealed a firm round mass, fixed to deep planes. A biopsy was performed and revealed a chordoma.

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It is ironic that while huge strides have been made in the treatment of invasive breast carcinoma, resulting in breast conservation for many women, the most appropriate treatment of noninvasive breast carcinoma remains a topic of hot debate.

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This was an open lable, pilot translational clinical pharmacology study of a brief (7 day) course of UFT, 300 mg/m²/day, in combination with leucovorin, 90 mg/day, in six patients with newly diagnosed advanced colorectal cancer.

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With regard to cancer management, minority populations do not fare as well as the majority in the US health-care system. There is clear evidence of an increased incidence of cancer in minority populations, in many cases accompanied by reduced survival. Several factors appear to contribute to these differences, and the biomedical community has begun to focus on definining the scope of the problem and possible solutions. This review will address specific areas of disparity in cancer care, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes, and will consider steps toward resolving these issues.

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Cetuximab (Erbitux), a chimeric antiepidermal growth factor receptor monoclonal antibody currently used to treat metastatic colorectal cancer, is in clinical development for several other solid tumors. Although cutaneous manifestations are the most common toxicities associated with cetuximab, they are rarely life-threatening. Cetuximab-related infusion reactions are less common, but they may become severe and cause fatal outcomes if not managed appropriately. Little about the specific etiology of these events is known; however, an overview of infusion reactions observed with other compounds may shed some light and help characterize cetuximab-related reactions. For physicians administering cetuximab, familiarity with acute reaction treatment protocols and preparedness to identify and manage symptoms promptly and effectively are most important to minimize potential risks.

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Monoclonal antibodies to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are among the promising novel targeted therapies being explored in colorectal cancer. Two such agents that inhibit EGFR signaling by interfering with ligand-binding are cetuximab (Erbitux) and panitumumab (Vectibix). This review will address the use of cetuximab and panitumumab in chemotherapy-refractory colorectal cancer as well as in front-line therapy for the disease, consider predictors of response and resistance, and outline comparisons between these agents.

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This review will cover innovative therapeutic approaches in relapsed or refractory MCL, many of which have the potential to alter treatment paradigms toward the development of strategies that do not involve conventional chemotherapy agents.

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There is no doubt that managed care is changing health care and the practice environment of all health-care providers. As Baird states, “The economics of health care will probably exert a greater influence on the future practice of nursing than any other single factor.”[1]

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This was an open lable, pilot translational clinical pharmacology study of a brief (7 day) course of UFT, 300 mg/m²/day, in combination with leucovorin, 90 mg/day, in six patients with newly diagnosed advanced colorectal cancer.

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In this review, we will discuss multidisciplinary considerations in treating patients with neoadjuvant therapy and highlight areas of controversy and ongoing research.