Cancer

Physiologic and psychosocial differences distinguish younger breast cancer survivors from older breast cancer survivors. In this study, the results suggested that a systematic analysis of cancer survivors is needed to understand their unique health profiles and needs.

In a group of 200 patients who were diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast on core-needle biopsy, the presence of a mass, lesion size >1.5 cm, and the presence of lobular cancerization on core-needle biopsy were independent predictors of invasion on surgical excision. A multivariate logistic regression model was developed to predict invasion. One hundred three patients underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy, and 3 patients had a single lymph node metastasis.

A pedigree assessment tool (PAT) designed to identify women in population-based screening at risk for hereditary breast cancer syndromes was developed. The PAT performed better than the Gail model at identifying women in a screening mammography population who are appropriate candidates to refer for genetic counseling and DNA testing for BRCA gene mutations.

The authors investigated whether recreational physical activity undertaken prior to diagnosis influenced breast cancer survival among a population-based cohort of 1264 young women. Some evidence was observed for a beneficial effect on survival of activity undertaken in the year prior to diagnosis, particularly among women who were overweight or obese near the time of diagnosis.

External beam radiotherapy can result in local control of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. A twice-daily fractionation regimen is well tolerated and has a trend to longer survival.

Thrombocytosis is prevalent in various malignancies, including metastatic renal cell carcinoma. A platelet count >400,000/μL is an independent prognostic factor for survival in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

The objective of this study was to identify molecules and other factors that clearly reflect the oncogenic role of a specific pathway in ovarian cancer. The results indicated that 4E binding protein 1 (4EBP1) is a possible hallmark of cell signaling that may act as a pivotal factor in oncogenic pathways and that phosphorylated 4EBP1 (p-4EBP1) expression, which is detectable with immunohistochemistry, is associated with tumor progression and an adverse prognosis. The authors suggest studying p-4EBP1 as a new molecular marker in ovarian tumors, regardless of the status of other possible oncogenic alterations.

The authors report on the development and validation of a cervical cancer module for the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality-of-Life (QoL) Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-CX24). The results of this study indicated that the EORTC QLQ-CX24 is a valid and reliable instrument to assess QoL in patients who are treated for cervical cancer. The QLQ-CX24 supplements the 30-item core EORTC QLQ (QLQ-C30) to evaluate disease-specific and treatment-specific aspects of QoL in clinical trials.

The findings of the current study suggest that the extent of lymph node resection improves the survival of women with intermediate/high-risk endometrioid uterine cancer.

At least 39.3% of multifocal papillary cancers in the Korean population could be attributed to independently originating papillary cancers rather than to intrathyroidal spread of single cancers.

Azacitidine administered in the outpatient setting can induce remission in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The therapy is well tolerated and might be an alternative for patients unlikely to tolerate standard induction chemotherapy.

Differential expression of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) in B-cell lymphomas suggest differences in pathogenesis that might have implications for novel treatment strategies targeting IAPs.

The current study evaluated the effect of colchicine on the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The results suggest that colchicine may prevent and delay the development of HCC in patients with hepatitis virus-related cirrhosis.

The authors investigated the diagnostic value of methylation profiles for discrimination between malignant and benign pleural effusions and examined the concordance of methylation in samples of serum and pleural fluid. The results indicated that adequate management of extracted pleural fluid can provide a rapid and reliable diagnosis in patients with pleural effusions who have suspected malignancy.

In the current series of previously treated Japanese patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer who had benefited from gefitinib treatment for at least 6 months, baseline brain metastasis was strongly associated with the emergence of acquired resistance to gefitinib.

The response rate to gefitinib in 120 chemonaive East Asian patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer who had a good performance status was 52%. The median survival of 11.1 months and the 1-year survival rate of 47.5% were similar to those achieved by patients who received chemotherapy as initial treatment. Female gender, adenocarcinoma histology, and nonsmoking status were independent predictors of a response to gefitinib.

Of 16 patients with melanoma brain metastases treated with the combination of extended-dose temozolomide and thalidomide, none showed an antitumor response, 4 developed thromboembolic events, and 1 died suddenly. The high proportion of patients with life-threatening or lethal adverse events in the absence of objective tumor responses provide little support for the use of this combination unless safe and effective methods to prevent thrombosis are developed.

An unsupervised recursive partitioning analysis, which included clinical, histologic, and genetic markers, was applied to a series of 156 anaplastic gliomas and led to a simple prognostic subclassification, with 1p19q codeletion and epidermal growth factor receptor amplification as the most discriminating prognostic factors.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor cells and human tumor samples sensitive to imatinib up-regulate the expression of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 after imatinib exposure.

A randomized, open-label, multicenter trial demonstrated that early treatment of mild anemia (hemoglobin ≥10 g/dL to ≤12 g/dL) with epoetin alfa, but not delayed intervention (when hemoglobin <9 g/dL), significantly improves quality of life, productivity, and hemoglobin level during chemotherapy for hematologic malignancies. The findings support the early use of epoetin alfa for mild anemia inpatients undergoing chemotherapy for hematologic malignancy, a population known to have a high prevalence of chemotherapy-related anemia.

c-Src was the first oncogene described in humans, and its functions are related to signal transduction and to the development of metastatic potential in solid and hematologic tumors. In this review, the authors describe the new concepts of c-Src in the process of transformation of solid and hematologic malignancies. In addition, the authors describe the new generation of Src inhibitors and their potential application in oncology.