ONCOLOGY Vol 10 No 8

The mortality for patients who had colorectal surgery performed by board-certified colon and rectal surgeons over an 8-year period (1986-1994) was 1.4%, as compared with 7.3% for a similar group of patients operated on by other surgeons,

Although laparoscopic surgery is a less invasive technique for abdominal surgery, a drawback is the fact that it visualizes only the surface of the abdominal cavity and may miss abnormalities within solid abdominal organs, such as the liver. The use of

dvances in cell biology and basic science are made in step-by-step increments of understanding, achieved over years of painstaking research. While not usually typical headline-grabbing material, such research has led to some of the most important

Damage occurs to our genes every day, some of it due to chemical or physical agents that have the potential to cause mutations leading to cancer. Luckily, cell proteins detect such damage and repair it before the cell reproduces, preventing a

By analyzing DNA from a strange mass of tissue found in a man's abdomen, researchers have discovered a previously unknown parasite that can infect and kill humans. The researchers have yet to name the parasite or determine what it looks

With improved instrumentation and scanning techniques, breast ultrasound screening is earning a prominent role in the detection of breast cancer in women with dense breasts when no lump is felt and no abnormalities are detected on the

The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that more than 8 million Americans alive today have a history of cancer, of whom 5 million were diagnosed 5 or more years ago. Most of these 5 million can be considered cured, while others still have evidence of cancer. In 1995, about 1,252,000 new cancer cases were diagnosed. This estimate does not include basal and squamous cell skin cancers and in situ carcinomas except bladder. The annual incidence of these skin cancers is estimated to be more than 800,000 cases. There has been a steady rise in cancer mortality in the United States in the last half-century. In 1995, about 547,000 people died of cancer--more than 1,500 people a day. One out of every five deaths in the United States is from cancer.

The interval between follow-up colonoscopies may be increased from 1 to 3 years for colorectal cancer patients whose examinations are negative after 2 years, concludes a study of 389 patients at the Ochsner Clinic, New Orleans, Louisianna,

Most antibodies do their work in the bloodstream. But others may be powerless to knock out their disease-causing foes unless the confrontation takes place inside an intestinal cell, researchers have found.

For decades, the fear of becoming impotent and incontinent as a result of surgery for prostate cancer kept many men from undergoing screening and treatment, leading to many deaths that might have been prevented. This situation has changed

With the maturation of several clinical trials in the late 1990s, oncology researchers are on the verge of determining which types of nutritional interventions will be effective in the primary prevention of colon cancer, David S. Alberts, md, said at the

In February 21, I presented testimony on behalf of the Society before the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee during a hearing on Food and Drug

The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has published a study reporting on patterns of cancer in a variety of racial and ethnic groups in the United States.

More American men are living longer. An estimated 13,850,000 were over age 65 as of July 1, 1996 [1]. This total represents a 1.01% increase over that in 1995, a 10.3% increase over the 1990 total and more than a 34% increase over the

The role of elective lymph node dissection in the treatment of patients with early-stage melanoma remains controversial. Some surgeons advocate the routine use of elective node dissection in patients with intermediate-thickness primary tumors, but the cost, morbidity, and low yield of tumor-positive lymph nodes associated with this approach make it less appealing than wide excision and observation. Multiple retrospective studies suggest a survival advantage as high as 25% for patients undergoing elective node dissection in the setting of clinically negative nodes, as opposed to delayed node dissection for clinically evident nodal metastases. Although two randomized prospective studies failed to demonstrate a survival advantage in patients undergoing elective node dissection, as compared with those having wide excision alone, both studies were criticized for their design [1,2].

Drs. North and Spellman concisely review the role of sentinel node biopsy in the management of patients with malignant melanoma and provide an excellent summary of the current state of this technique. A number of comments should be made about this review. These comments relate to (1) the technical aspects of the procedure and (2) its clinical indications.

We investigated the incidence of micrometastases from squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck in neck dissection specimens originally staged as pN0. A total of 76 dissection specimens from 60 patients were

The use of elective lymph node dissection for intermediate-thickness melanoma has remained controversial. The technique of sentinel node biopsy (intraoperative lymphatic mapping and selective lymphadenectomy) has been

Drs. Ambrosch and Brinck appropriately emphasize the problems and limitations encountered when using routine pathologic procedures to examine lymph nodes from head and neck cancer specimens. Extraordinary processing techniques have repeatedly yielded a larger number of small nodes and, on occasion, have demonstrated the presence of micrometastases. The majority of these observations come from examination of breast specimens and their axillary dissections. Labor-intensive clearing techniques have varied to some extent, but generally involve progressive removal of opaque fat with alcoholic solvents of increasing percentages culminating in absolute alcohol (100%). Final visualization involves submerging the defatted specimen in cedarwood oil, followed by careful examination and dissection of the backlighted specimen.