In the recent era of effective systemic therapies for melanoma, the provocative question of whether isolated limb perfusion still plays a role in the treatment of patients with in-transit melanoma metastases is timely and relevant.
This video examines a population-based study that examined colorectal cancer mortality and gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with long-term use of low-dose aspirin.
The dilemma for clinicians is how best to understand and manage this rapidly growing body of information to improve patient care. With millions of genetic variants of potential clinical significance and thousands of genes associated with rare but well-established genetic conditions, the complexities of genetic data management clearly will require improved computerized clinical decision support tools, as opposed to continued reliance on traditional rote, memory-based medicine.
Liposome encapsulation of antineoplastic drugs entered clinical testing in the late 1980s. As carriers for a variety of agents, liposomes can allow successful delivery of agents that may be subject to rapid degradation in
Clinical trial results to date show that men with visceral CRPC metastases do not benefit from ipilimumab, while their counterparts with bone- or node-only metastases do. This suggests that visceral metastases should be a stratification factor for future immunotherapy clinical trials.
Local-regional carcinoma of the esophagus is often diagnosed inadvanced stages because the diagnosis is established when symptomsare severe. The prognosis of patients with local-regional carcinoma ofthe esophagus continues to be grim. While preoperative chemoradiotherapyincreases the fraction of patients who achieve pathologiccomplete response, that percentage is approximately 25%. In an attemptto increase the number of patients with either no cancer in the surgicalspecimen or only microscopic cancer, we adopted a three-step strategy.The current study utilized up to two 6-week cycles of induction chemotherapywith irinotecan (CPT-11, Camptosar) and cisplatin as step 1.This was followed by concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy withcontinuous infusion fluorouracil (5-FU) and paclitaxel as step 2. Oncethe patients recovered from chemoradiotherapy, a preoperative evaluationwas performed and surgery was attempted. All patients signed aninformed consent prior to their participation on the study. A total of 43patients were enrolled. The baseline endoscopic ultrasonography revealedthat 36 patients had a T3 tumor, five patients had a T2 tumor, andtwo had a T1 tumor. Twenty-seven patients had node-positive cancer(N1). Thirty-nine (91%) of the 43 patients underwent surgery; all hadan R0 (curative) resection. A pathologic complete response was noted in12 of the 39 patients. In addition, 17 patients had only microscopic(< 10%) viable cancer in the specimen. Therefore, a significant pathologicresponse was seen in 29 (74%) of 39 taken to surgery or 29 (67%)of all 43 patients enrolled on the study. With a median follow up beyond25 months, 20 patients remain alive and 12 patients remain free ofcancer. Our preliminary data suggest that the proportion of patientswith significant pathologic response can be increased by using thethree-step strategy.
In this article, we review the current knowledge on the biological findings, clinical features, and therapeutic approaches for splenic marginal zone lymphoma.
Josh Kremer, MD, vice president of clinical development at Eisai, Inc, discusses results of the phase III SELECT trial, which studied lenvatinib in radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.
Knowing the genetic makeup of patient tumors permits the development of new DNA-based diagnostics, such as BEAMing and PARE. By incorporating these new tools into future trials, we should be able to concurrently learn about drug resistance and significantly improve patient responses.
A 40-year-old premenopausal woman with a new diagnosis of invasive lobular carcinoma occurring in a background of lobular carcinoma in situ presents to a multidisciplinary second opinion clinic.
We need to understand each patient’s cancer and its microenvironment well enough to develop targeted treatments that will kill the tumor the first time-for if we let it escape, 70 years of prostate cancer research teaches us that our job will only get harder.
As new data and new treatment options emerge, palliative radiotherapy algorithms will need to undergo continuous modifications and updates to ensure that patients receive optimal symptom relief.
Using a day 1 and 8, every-3-week schedule, our purpose was to determine the maximum tolerated dose of irinotecan (CPT-11, Camptosar) that can be administered immediately after gemcitabine (Gemzar) at a dose of 1,000 mg/m² IV. In this phase I trial, the maximum tolerated dose was defined as the dose level immediately below the level in which two of the first three patients in any cohort, or at least two of six patients in any expanded cohort, experienced dose-limiting toxicity. Dose-limiting toxicity pertained only to toxicity during the first cycle of treatment. Escalation of irinotecan was planned in groups of three patients, with three additional patients added at the first indication of dose-limiting toxicity. A total of 19 patients have been enrolled.
“Biology is King; selection of cases is Queen, and the technical details of surgical procedures are princes and princesses of the realm who frequently try to overthrow the powerful forces of the King and Queen, usually to no long-term avail, although with some temporary apparent victories.”
A 22-year-old college student with primary amenorrhea due to Müllerian agenesis presented with a headache, dysarthria, nausea, vomiting, and left upper extremity weakness. MRI of the brain showed numerous intracranial lesions.
Delirium in the setting of terminalillness is common; moreover,it can create extremehardships for patients and their families,who are already facing the mostdifficult of circumstances. However,delirium that develops in the contextof comorbid medical conditions maybe readily reversible with thoughtfulevaluation and effective management.Friedlander, Brayman, and Breitbartdescribe important factors to considerwhen assessing and treating deliriumin the context of end-stage illness.We will elaborate on their discussionand emphasize some common pitfallsassociated with the management ofdelirium.
This review will discuss recently FDA-approved agents for advanced prostate cancer and those under investigation in phase III trials.
Epithelial ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancy in the United States, with approximately 15,000 deaths per year. Platinum/taxane doublets have long been considered the standard treatment regimen for advanced-stage disease; however, recent studies have sought to improve on the outcome from this therapy. Intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy has been shown to yield superior progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS); however, logistical problems and toxicities have limited more widespread adoption. Recent studies have also suggested that a “dose-dense” schedule of paclitaxel in combination with carboplatin may result in improved outcomes, and the impact of biological therapies in the first-line setting is under active investigation. In the setting of recurrent disease, preliminary results suggest that novel doublet regimens such as carboplatin and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin may have similar activity to standard platinum/taxane doublets while carrying a reduced risk of allergic reactions. Additionally, targeted therapy remains an active area of investigation, with evidence of activity from agents such as PARP inhibitors, anti-angiogenics, and PI3 kinase inhibitors. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of ovarian cancer and its treatment in both the newly diagnosed and recurrent settings.
Clinical results with irinotecan (CPT-11 [Camptosar]) and other camptothecin derivatives in various cancers, although encouraging, have fallen short of the expectations predicted by preclinical models. One proposed
Malignant pleural mesothelioma(MPM) is an invasivelocally aggressive tumorthat is nearly always fatal. Historically,treatments resulting in durable controlhave seemed unobtainable andfostered a somewhat fatalistic managementapproach. Until recently, nonovel therapies had emerged that offeredreal hope for improvement inthe poor median overall and progression-free survival. In this issue ofONCOLOGY, Dr Antman and colleaguesprovide an overview of theepidemiology, natural history, andmanagement strategies for malignantmesothelioma, with an emphasis onMPM.[1]
In this review of active surveillance for favorable-risk prostate cancer, we will discuss the rationality of this approach, the biological evidence for employing active surveillance in Gleason pattern 3 and 4 prostate cancer, patient selection for active surveillance, clinical trial data on active surveillance, and the role of prostate cancer biomarkers and imaging studies for clinical decision making in patients with low-risk disease.
Carcinoma of the breast is the most common cancer in women in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in women. The incidence of breast cancer has risen steadily over the past decade, with the most dramatic increase seen in smaller primary breast tumors, partly because widespread use of screening mammography permits earlier detection [1].
A 55-year-old Hispanic male presents with a family history of gastric cancer in one sibling and prostate cancer in an older brother. CT performed in March 2015 for IMT surveillance showed a heterogeneous prostate with local invasion involving the bladder, seminal vesicles, and perirectal fat.
Judd W. Moul, MD, spoke with CancerNetwork® about the latest research from the journal ONCOLOGY® on the treatment of a patients with evidence of prostate cancer despite multiple negative prognostic tests.
Among the serious complications associated with bone marrow transplantation are invasive fungal infections caused by organisms such as Candida and Aspergillus species and end-organ disease caused by
The patient, KC, is a 41-year-old Caucasian female. She has been married to SC for 16 years and has three children, aged 14, 11, and 9 years old. She has always been a homemaker with plenty of energy and says that she has been “the rock” during any crisis. KC was diagnosed with T2N1M0 poorly differentiated invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast with lobular features in 2007. She decided to have a mastectomy without immediate reconstruction because she did not know if reconstruction was what she wanted. She has also undergone four courses of chemotherapy (doxorubicin [Adriamycin] and paclitaxel [Taxol]) followed by radiation therapy.
Several recent studies have addressed the management of infectious problems in patients with acute leukemia. Although those studies have served to emphasize the fundamental management principles formulated and proven
Improvement in pediatric acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) over the past 30 years has been only modest. Although rates of complete remission induction have climbed steadily to 85% or 90%, cure rates remain in the 50% to 60% range. These figures may inspire envy from medical oncologists treating adults with AML, but they lag far behind the successes in treating pediatric acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).
Among the serious complications associated with bone marrow transplantation are invasive fungal infections caused by organisms such as Candida and Aspergillus species and end-organ disease caused by