ONCOLOGY Vol 11 No 1

The latest data, published in the December 18th issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, reopen a question that affects millions of women worldwide: whether to continue tamoxifen beyond 5 years after surgery for early-stage breast cancer.

University of Minnesota Cancer Center researcher David Kiang has received a 4-year, $509,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute to study how the molecular changes that occur during lactation can r from the National Cancer Institute to

For women diagnosed with stage I cervical cancer during pregnancy who are torn between the desire to maintain a healthy pregnancy and the need for cancer treatment, a recent study offers hope that both desires can be achieved. The study,

A new method capable of destroying breast tumors without surgery andside effects has been developed at the Department of Energy's (DOE) OakRidge National Laboratory (ORNL).

In a lively session at the 32nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Jerome P. Ritchie, MD, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, and Steven H. Woolf, MD, MPH, Medical College of Virginia,

Researchers at Ohio State University have developed a technique that fuses the images produced by nuclear medicine scans with images produced by CT scans.

Steven T. Rosen, MD, FACP, director of the Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center of Northwestern University, announced that the Center has received a 4-year grant in the amount of $4.27 million from the US Army Medical Research and Materiel

Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University have discovered that the protein guanylyl cyclase C (GCC) is expressed in humans solely in the intestines, including the colon and rectum, making it a selective marker for colorectal tumors that

Distinct cellular anomalies have been found with far greater frequency in the ovaries of women at high risk of ovarian cancer than in the ovaries of women whose organs were removed for non-cancer-related reasons. This finding may provide clues to

The treatment of potentially curable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is currently evolving. Drs. Greco and Hainsworth provide information about the potential use of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery in patients with stage IB-IV NSCLC. The authors have taken on the challenging task of summarizing recent clinical research, referencing current clinical studies, and providing some predictions on the outcomes of ongoing clinical investigation.

Secondary lymphedema is quite prevalent in cancer patients who require lymph node dissection for staging and/or treatment of their disease. Chronic lymphedema may arise shortly after surgical intervention or months to years afterward. The tendency of chronic lymphedema is to worsen over time.

Lymphedema continues to plague women after breast cancer treatment. The cosmetic deformity cannot be disguised with normal clothing; physical discomfort and disability are associated with the enlargement; and recurrent episodes of cellulitis and lymphangitis may be expected. Added to the physical symptoms is the distress caused unintentionally by clinicians, who are more interested in cancer recurrence and often trivialize the nonlethal nature of lymphedema.

The excellent article by Monaco and Goldschmidt summarizes potential pitfalls that must be confronted and avoided as we balance the cost and allocation of health-care resources with the state-of-the-art cancer care that we as a society have come to expect. As a clinician and researcher who is devoting most of my professional efforts to prostate cancer, I would like to put Monaco and Goldschmidt's article in the context of the most common cancer now affecting American men.[1] Although these are my personal opinions, they are based on a number of recent practice guidelines, as will be noted.

In recent years, the treatment of many patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has evolved into a multidisciplinary effort combining the talents of medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and thoracic surgeons. Prospective, randomized trials have demonstrated improved survival rates in patients with locally advanced disease who are treated with cisplatin (Platinol)-based induction chemotherapy prior to radiation therapy[1,2] or surgery.[3,4] However, interpretation of these and other studies and application of the findings to the management of an individual patient require a thorough understanding of prognostic factors and staging.

We treated 119 consecutive patients with lymphedema with complex lymphedema therapy (CLT). Lymphedema reductions after CLT averaged 62.6% in the 56 patients with one affected arm and 68.6% in the 38 patients with

Managed care and proper cancer care need not be mutually exclusive entities. Managed-care organizations (MCOs) that are committed to patients and society should have the following characteristics: accountability for

The management of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still evolving. Newer third-generation chemotherapy (paclitaxel [Taxol]-based; vinorelbine [Navelbine]/cisplatin [Platinol]) is more effective than