Oncology Vol 28 No 7

At the present time, without clear data to suggest improved survival for patients undergoing extended pelvic lymph node dissection, the procedure cannot be universally recommended.

Is PCNSL resection safe? Evidence from clinical trials in which enrollment follows surgery-such as G-PCNSL-SG-1-is not valid proof of the safety of resection.

Relatively few patients with primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (PCNSL) will have tumors that are amenable to resection. In the absence of the highest quality data, at least it is good to know that in the modern era, patients with PCNSL are probably not harmed by judicious tumor resection.

Extended pelvic lymph node dissection represents the most accurate procedure for the detection of lymph node metastases in prostate cancer.

Prevention of CNS seeding early in the metastatic disease course using drugs with both intra- and extracranial activity will be crucial to improving outcomes in patients with breast cancer brain metastases.

Brain metastases arising from breast cancer constitute a clinically unmet need and a situation that portends a poor prognosis with few therapeutic options.

In this overview, we will review recent developments in the management of breast cancer brain metastases and current prospective trials of systemic therapies specifically for patients with breast cancer brain metastases, with a focus on novel pathway-specific therapies.

Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare disease, with an annual incidence rate ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 cases per million individuals.

Rectal cancer management is becoming increasingly complex. There is increasing recognition of the potential to avoid routine chemoradiotherapy, as excellent results can be achieved with a more selective approach.

For the practicing medical or neuro-oncologist, the treatment approach would currently not change, given that systemic therapy should be started as soon as the diagnosis of PCNSL is made and the patient is stable from a neurosurgical perspective. In most cases, one would not refer the patient back to the surgeon for additional debulking.

We present highlights on value in oncology, immunotherapies, and genomics from the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Although the current standard treatment for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer is preoperative chemoradiotherapy followed by total mesorectal excision, concerns have been raised over the functional sequelae and possible overtreatment of rectal cancer patients.

In this article, we review risks and benefits of the standard treatment approach for rectal cancer and compare standard treatment with alternative methods aimed at rectal preservation.

For many women, the prospect of tumors growing in their brain that may eventually impact their ability to communicate, interact, and remember is terrifying.