Cancer

CYP3A43 is involved in the metabolism of steroid hormones. The authors observed an association between the CYP3A43 74 del A polymorphism and grade of breast tumors (odds ratio, 1.74; P_trend = .012). The variant allele may lead to increased steroid hormone levels promoting growth of tumor cells and hinder differentiation.

Noncancer (competing) mortality is an important event determining disease-free survival in early breast cancer. Black race, comorbid illness, and advanced age significantly increase the risk of this event; implications for designing clinical trials in patients at high risk for competing mortality are discussed.

Survival after surgical resection of stage I, II, and III small bowel adenocarcinoma was associated significantly with the total number of assessed lymph nodes. Stratifying patients with stage III disease into those with <3 positive lymph nodes and ≥3 positive lymph nodes further improved prognostication.

Administration of sorafenib is safe and feasible in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma refractory to either bevacizumab or sunitinib.

This study examined the short-term and long-term costs of prostate cancer treatment based on the initial treatment received for 13,769 men diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer. Patterns of costs varied widely based on initial treatment; 5-year total costs were $26,896 for hormonal therapy only, $25,097 for hormonal therapy plus radiation, $19,214 for surgery, $15,589 for radiation only, and $9130 for watchful waiting.

The optimal clinical approach to the treatment-resistant renal cell carcinoma patient was unknown, and requires careful prospective trials for further insight. Sunitinib rechallenge had potential benefits in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients. Prospective studies to evaluate this strategy were needed.

Time to recurrence after primary chemotherapy is predictive of survival after recurrence in advanced endometrial cancer. However, there is no evidence that this variable provides significant prognostic information or can be used in selecting salvage chemotherapy.

Everolimus is an oral rapamycin analog that acts by selectively inhibiting mammalian target of rapamycin, an intracellular protein downstream to phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) that helps to regulate cell growth and proliferation. Everolimus demonstrated an encouraging single-agent clinical benefit response rate in pretreated patients with recurrent endometrioid endometrial cancer.

Azacitidine may decrease the disease recurrence rate after allogeneic transplants for advanced acute myelogenous leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome. The authors determined that the maximum tolerated dose is 32 mg/m² for 5 days, in monthly cycles.

In vitro studies have suggested that bortezomib can enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy. This phase 1 study demonstrated that bortezomib at a dose of 1.3 mg/m² twice per cycle can be added to the regimen of rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) with acceptable toxicity.

CD151, as hydrophobic protein, interacts with other tetraspanins and with a variety of transmembrane and cytosolic proteins to form tetraspanin-enriched microdomains, which act as signaling platforms in the plasma membrane. The current results indicated that CD151 has potential as a novel marker for predicting the prognosis of patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and may be a potential therapeutic target.

The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the advantages of combining radiofrequency ablation (RFA) with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for treating patients with intermediate-sized (3.1-5.0 cm) hepatocellular carcinomas. The results showed that the local tumor progression rate in the TACE-RFA group was lower than that in the RFA group; however, there was no statistical difference between the overall survival rates and safety in the 2 groups.

Data were reviewed regarding dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumors. The recurrence and progression rates of dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumors and the high rate of abnormal neurocognitive test results noted in this study highlight the need for regular follow-up and appropriate academic counseling of children with these tumors.

Tandem doses of samarium-153 ethylenediamine tetramethylene phosphoric acid can be safely administered to heavily pretreated patients with high-risk osteosarcoma. There is a linear relationship between administered activity and tumor absorbed dose within each evaluable patient.

The results from this retrospective study confirmed the rarity and poor prognosis of radiation-induced sarcoma in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The only independent predictive factor that was associated with better survival was complete surgical resection.

Programs ensuring that breast cancer screening and diagnostic services are available at no cost to low-income women can mitigate the adverse effect of area-level poverty on stage of breast cancer. However, such programs require effective strategies to encourage use of screening mammography to promote diagnosis at an earlier stage.

Foreign-born patients with lung or colorectal cancer in the United States reported a lower quality of care and were less likely to receive some recommended cancer therapies than US-born patients. These differences were partly explained by English language proficiency.

Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the mid-1990s, the incidence of Kaposi sarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has dropped dramatically. A decade later, however, HIV infection remains significantly associated with an elevated risk of these cancers, Hodgkin lymphoma, and anal cancer.

Mammalian target of rapamycin pathway was overall down-regulated in urothelial carcinoma. Phosphorylated S6 protein was an independent predictor of disease-specific survival, and c-myc was an independent predictor of progression.

This cohort study supported the hypothesis that the male partners of women with breast cancer are at a significantly increased risk for hospitalization with affective disorders. Results concluded that a diagnosis of breast cancer not only affects the life of the patient but may also seriously affect their partner.

22-Oxa-dihydroxyvitamin D₃(22-oxa-D₃), an analog of vitamin D, significantly inhibited the growth of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) cell lines in a time-dependent and dose-dependent manner, and the treatment arrested cells in G₁ phase to S phase by reducing the expression of cyclin D1 and increasing the expression of p21. The antitumor activity of 22-oxa-D₃ was strongly demonstrated in CCA-inoculated mice and in histoculutured tissues from patients with CCA.

Multidrug resistance is among the major causes of limited chemotherapy efficiency in cancer cells. The results from this study indicated that effective small interfering RNA delivery with nonviral polymeric carriers can reduce the level of permeability glycoprotein on cell surfaces and enhance the efficiency of chemotherapeutic agents in vitro.

Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a potentially life-threatening condition in patients with cancer who receive chemotherapy. In this study, crude and adjusted mortality rates were greater for patients who had FN compared with controls for all tumor types.