ONCOLOGY Vol 25 No 4

“Comparative effectiveness research, ” or CER, has become a loaded term in our ongoing wrangling over healthcare policy. Often, however, what even knowledgeable people understand by CER is significantly at odds with what actual policy makers have in mind.

This review will cover the key elements of modern acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment regimens, focusing primarily on front-line treatment and concluding with a brief discussion of the management of relapsed disease.

We have witnessed remarkable gains in the biological understanding and treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) over the past decade.

When tumor cells are rapidly broken down and their contents released into the extracellular space, the released ions and compounds can cause metabolic disturbances too great to be neutralized by the body's normal mechanisms.

Many historical evolutions of concepts have emerged regarding lobular neoplasia (LN) since 1865, when Cornil first described this entity as “intraepithelial breast carcinoma in lobules.

Breast cancers of lobular histology are not frequently encountered, but are nevertheless the second most common histologic subtype of breast cancer after ductal adenocarcinoma.

Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is a potentially life-threatening complication that has been described since the first use of modern cytotoxic chemotherapy.

About 35 years ago, I encountered several children and adolescents with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or widespread non-Hodgkin lymphoma who presented with or who developed, upon initiation of therapy, severe renal and metabolic derangements.

Kava is a plant indigenous to the Pacific Rim and the Hawaiian Islands whose root and rhizome are used to prepare a non-fermented beverage with relaxant effects that is used for social and recreational purposes.

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.

The cure of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) stands at the top of medicine's achievements in the struggle against cancer.