Oncology Vol 28 No 1

January 15, 2014

After 2 decades of disappointing phase III trials and years of single-agent gemcitabine therapy, the pancreatic cancer community is relieved to expand the front-line armamentarium in patients with mPAC. Here we evaluate the current landscape and ask some provocative questions about response rate, dosing, and predictive markers.

January 15, 2014

All improvements in outcomes for patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma have occurred with the use of cytotoxic agents, which will probably remain the mainstay of treatment for advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

January 15, 2014

As long as there is any risk of progression, G6 cancer cannot be equated to just a precursor lesion, and the emphasis should remain on screening patients with serum PSA measurement, contrary to the recommendation of the US Preventive Services Task Force.

January 15, 2014

Most physicians are less aware of clinical presentations of the various heavy chain diseases, due in great part to their low incidence and highly variable clinical course. Heavy chain diseases are rare lymphoproliferative B-cell disorders whose hallmark is the accumulation and secretion of truncated constant heavy chains without the associated light chains.

January 15, 2014

In the absence of a clear understanding of the underlying biologic heterogeneity, the etiology of the different heavy chain diseases (HCDs) should be taken into consideration when treatment decisions are made. Extrapolation from related conditions, such as aggressive lymphomas (in γ-HCD) and CLL (in μ-HCD), suggests that novel and targeted therapies may be effective in the management of these rare diseases.

January 15, 2014

While there is no doubt that many indolent prostate cancers have been treated, it is unclear where one should draw the line between indolent and aggressive tumors.

January 15, 2014

I would like to suggest three ways that oncology healthcare professionals can make a difference: help patients quit tobacco use, take an increased presence in tobacco control efforts, and embrace tobacco-free environments.

January 15, 2014

No definite guidelines exist for the management of nongastric MALT lymphoma. Retrospective series have included patients treated with different modalities, and excellent cause-specific and overall survival have been demonstrated, independent of the type of treatment adopted.

January 15, 2014

Of course we should offer active surveillance to African-American men with localized prostate cancer! We simply need to do it selectively and in a smarter way-and we need to be aware of some of the potential pitfalls.

January 15, 2014

Active surveillance seems to be generally safe, yet African-American men tend to have more aggressive prostate cancers. Thus, it is imperative that we learn the characteristics and outcomes of African-American men considering surveillance.

January 15, 2014

Gemcitabine monotherapy has been the standard of care for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer for several decades. Despite recent advances in various chemotherapeutic regimens and in the development of targeted therapies, metastatic pancreatic cancer remains highly resistant to chemotherapy.

January 15, 2014

This review discusses the clinical presentation; epidemiology; laboratory, radiologic, and pathologic features; and treatment options for each of the heavy chain diseases, emphasising the importance of an accurate pathologic diagnosis and correct interpretation of immunologic studies in their identification.

January 15, 2014

There is strong evidence from longitudinal cohort studies of men with both treated and untreated Gleason 6 prostate cancer to suggest that Gleason 6 disease, when not associated with higher-grade cancer, virtually never demonstrates the ability to metastasize and thus represents an indolent entity that does not require treatment.

January 15, 2014

In light of two recent positive clinical trials for advanced pancreatic cancer, we are currently facing an interesting situation that those of us who treat this disease have not had to deal with previously: what to do with this expanding array of choices?