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Universal healthcare has been a hot button topic in the 2008 US presidential race. But there is more to universal healthcare than insurance coverage. A truly universal system would address-and possibly even eradicate-disparities in healthcare that are based on nonclinical factors, such as socioeconomics and gender.

Optical tomography with ultrasound localization has the potential to monitor tumor vascular changes during neoadjuvant chemotherapy, according to a pilot study in which the modality was able to distinguish between responders and nonresponders, and even between complete and partial pathologic responses.

Loma Linda University Medical Center has established a new cancer center under the direction of Mark Reeves, MD, PhD, professor of surgery at Loma Linda University and chief of the Section of Surgical Oncology at the Loma Linda Veteran's Administration.

The three words “You’ve got cancer” can change someone’s life. After being diagnosed with cancer, questions arise: Can it be cured? Why me? Am I going to die? Luckily, as advances have been made in the treatment of cancer, the diagnosis of cancer is not necessarily a terminal one. In fact, many cancers, such as breast or colon cancer, when detected early enough, are curable, and treatment advances have resulted in long-term survivorship across many cancers.

Current US statistics on cancer reveal that more than 11 million cancer survivors live among us today, and that number is expected to double by 2050.[1,2] One important contributing trend has been a fall in cancer deaths driven by earlier detection and improved treatment. Deaths resulting from cancer declined from 206.7 per 100,000 population in 1980 to 185.7 per 100,000 in 2004. Meanwhile, the adjusted 5-year survival rate for cancers overall increased from 50% to 66% between 1975–1977 and 1996–2003,[3] and these statistics speak only to relatively short-term survival. About 1 in every 7 survivors today received their diagnosis more than 20 years ago.[4]

Patients who have experienced oral mucositis report it as the most bothersome side effect of cancer therapy. It can result in pain, infection, and nutritional defi cits, and can interfere with appropriate cancer treatment. Many patients with mucositis are opiate-naive, presenting clinical challenges.

As oncology nurses, we know that effective communication, comprehensive patient education, and ongoing identification of patients' needs are key components of excellent patient care.

The preservation and maintenance of quality of life (QoL)-the "extent to which one's usual or expected physical, emotional, [and] social well being [is] affected by the medical condition or its treatment" [1]-is an important aspect in understanding and approaching the overall management and evaluation of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) by health care providers. MDS patients are treated with blood transfusions to improve their health-related QoL. Fortunately, recent advances in therapy have signifi cantly enhanced their ability to cope with MDS.

Palliative care for patients and their families across the cancer disease trajectory-from diagnosis, through survivorship, to end of life-is essential for quality cancer care.

Based on Independent Data Monitoring Committee review of three phase II trials, AstraZeneca’s HORIZON III phase II/III study of its antiangiogenesis agent Recentin will progress directly into phase III. The study is a head-to-head comparison of first-line Recentin (cediranib, AZD2171) plus FOXFOX vs bevacizumab (Avastin) plus FOLFOX in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

CT-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) offers long-term pain reduction in patients with osteoid osteoma, making RFA a viable alternative to open surgery, according to researchers from Seoul, South Korea.

A new study shows that the type of surgery a patient with renal cancer receives depends more on the surgeon’s preference than on the patient’s tumor size, demographic characteristics, or general medical health (Miller et al: Cancer, published online March 10, 2008, DOI: 10.1002/cncr.23372).

;Women, older patients, and patients with cerebrovascular disease who have small renal tumors are more likely to undergo radical nephrectomy of the affected kidney than partial nephrectomy, according to a retrospective study presented at the 2008 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (abstract 387).

When positioning patients for external beam partial breast irradiation (PBI), body surface mapping is more accurate than either alignment using lasers or alignment using kilovoltage (kV) on-board imaging, a new study shows.

Some clinicians are so discouraged by nonstandard CD-ROMs generated at imaging centers they are calling on the radiology community to improve the way it transfers imaging data to referring physicians.

In a small study, patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme who received dual implantation of low-activity iodine-125 seeds and wafers containing carmustine (Gliadel) following surgery had a median survival of 69 weeks, with nearly one-fourth of patients (8 of 34) surviving 2 years.

Sanofi-aventis’ supplemental New Drug Application for Eloxatin (oxaliplatin) has been accepted by FDA and assigned priority review status. The sNDA proposes changes to the Eloxatin prescribing information to include long-term survival data from the MOSAIC trial.

Using the SAVI applicator for breast brachytherapy, 14 of 18 patients experienced no skin reactions, and the other four had only minor reactions that resolved quickly, Constantine Mantz, MD, reported at the 25th Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference. Dr. Mantz, a radiation oncologist at 21st Century Oncology, Inc. Fort Myers, Florida, said that the overall cosmetic outcomes with SAVI were rated excellent.

A new study based on nearly a quarter million mammograms suggests screening mammography with computer-aided detection is more sensitive than double reads. The findings contradict a key study published last year questioning CAD's effectiveness. CAD's potential for yielding too many false positives remains controversial. Radiologists argue its misuse drives up recall rates and, with them, the number of unwarranted biopsies and overall mammography costs.

In patients with low- and intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) who have regularly received transfusions, chelation therapy improves survival, according to a study presented at ASH 2007 (abstract 249).

Pfizer Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire Serenex, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company with an extensive compound library that targets Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90). Pfizer will acquire the rights to SNX-5422, an oral Hsp90 inhibitor currently in phase I trials for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

In aggressive, relapsed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the oral investigational mTOR inhibitor RAD001 (everolimus) has single-agent activity and is well-tolerated for long periods, according to interim results of a phase II study presented at ASH 2007 (abstract 121). Craig B. Reeder, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, reported the results of the Mayo Clinic/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute trial (MAYO-MC048G)

An 85-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with epigastric pain and nausea for 2 days. She denied vomiting, fever, or early satiety. The patient stated she had lost 10 pounds over the past 3 months. A CT scan of the abdomen revealed a 1 cm low attenuation lesion in the second portion of the duodenum.

Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, MD, was born in Hungary to a mother who had wanted to be physician. “It was a time and place in which medicine was not a suitable profession for a woman, yet I think my mother’s subliminal messages worked on me,” he said in an interview with Oncology News International.

A recent national survey found a striking increase in adverse events among Medicare cancer patients directly related to CMS’ national coverage decision on the use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents.

Do oncologists treat their patients with colon cancer the same as they would treat themselves? Usually. A survey presented at the 2008 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium probed the secret world of oncologists' personal preferences (abstract 444).

A novel approach aimed at depleting host hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) by an immunologic method may facilitate subsequent donor stem cell transplantation without the need for traditional myeloablative conditioning regimens. Agnieszka Czechowicz, a medical student conducting research in the laboratory of Irving Weissman, MD, at Stanford, discussed results of her research using murine transplantation models that could reduce the toxicity associated with traditional approaches and expand the potential applications for HSC transplantation (ASH 2007, abstract LB2).

Accurate detection of micrometastases in the lymph nodes of colorectal cancer patients appears possible with an emerging quantitative RT-PCR assay being developed by DiagnoCure Oncology Laboratories (West Chester, Pennsylvania), according to an interview with investigators at the 2008 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. Data from a large prospective NIH-sponsored trial are expected to be reported at ASCO 2008.

Survival and staging in colon cancer are related to the number of lymph nodes containing metastasis. But according to several reports from the 2008 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, there may be a better way to determine prognosis. The “index of metastasis,” also called the “lymph node ratio,” may be a more accurate predictor of cancer-related survival than the number of positive nodes, according to investigators who presented data at the meeting.

In unselected patients, results with the anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody panitumumab (Vectibix) in metastatic colorectal cancer patients were disappointing. However, patients with wild-type KRAS tumor status did benefit from panitumumab, according to several studies reported at the recent 2008 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.