J Jassem

..Here we report the efficacy and safety of these treatments in a prespecified subset of patients whose disease relapsed within 12 months...

..The present article provides a brief description of the most important conference presentations on molecular biology, epidemiology, prevention, pathology, diagnosis and treatment at all stages of breast cancer...

..However, the high frequency of myelotoxicity-related gemcitabine omissions on day 15 of the cycle indicates that modification of the schedule should be considered in standard care...

..intravenous (i.v.) vinorelbine was designed to determine the efficacy and safety of oral vinorelbine with an intrapatient dose escalation in previously untreated patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...

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..The role of new agents such as taxanes, vinorelbine, gemcitabine, and topoisomerase inhibitors in combined modality therapy of non-small-cell lung cancer warrants further clinical investigation...

..In small cell lung cancer, routine applications of radiotherapy include chest radiotherapy in limited disease and prophylactic cranial irradiation in complete responders to chemotherapy, each increasing survival by about 5%...

..Most recently another regional cooperative group has been created: the Central European Cooperative Oncology Group (CECOG), whose main objectives are to conduct phase III studies on new chemotherapy combinations...

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..v. and oral vinorelbine in combination with cisplatin was designed to determine the response rate, safety profile, progression-free survival, overall survival and quality of life (QoL) in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...

..The value of new agents (taxanes, vinorelbine, gemcitabine and topoisomerase inhibitors) in combined modality therapy of NSCLC seems to be promising, but warrants further clinical evaluation...

..As many new studies have been published since, it was necessary to update this document. We present here a consensus statement on this topic, prepared by a panel of experts in oncology, thoracic surgery, pathology and pneumonology...

..This review provides the rationale for this strategy and presents the results of major Phase III studies. Discussed are advantages of chemoradiation, its limitations in clinical practice and prospects for the future...

..Secondary end points included response rate, progression-free survival (PFS), time to tumor progression (TTP), time to treatment failure (TTF), and toxicity...

..Presented are rationale for the use of this strategy, methods of combining drugs and radiation and results of major phase III trials...

..The following applications of radiotherapy are addressed: definitive treatment in localized inoperable disease, radiotherapy as an adjunct to surgery (preoperative and postoperative), and palliative chest irradiation...

..This phase III trial compared the efficacy and safety of doxorubicin and paclitaxel (AT) to 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FAC) as first-line therapy for women with metastatic breast cancer...

..06). These findings suggest a relationship between chemotherapy-induced leukopenia and tumour response in SCLC...

..001) and degree of tumor differentiation (p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that altered pRb and p53 expression does not provide prognostic information in operable NSCLC patients...

..In conclusion, MIC regimen provides satisfactory efficacy with acceptable toxicity in advanced cervical cancer patients. Better response is seen in lesions outside of the previously irradiated area...

..005). S-100 protein expression in tumour cells seems to be an independent predictor of poor prognosis in NSCLC patients...

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..Prognostic relevance of the current TNM stage grouping for lung cancer is still a matter of debate...

..01 for both comparisons). Our results suggest that MDM2 gene amplification analysis provides additional prognostic information in surgically treated NSCLC patients...

..CONCLUSION: The rectal point dose determined with the use of rectal wire marker may be underestimated, therefore this method should be discouraged in gynecological brachytherapy...

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..These results suggest the lack of prognostic relevance of p53 and PCNA expression in surgically treated NSCLC patients...

..This homogeneity, together with our earlier findings, may confirm the impact of ethnic and geographical factors on the mutational profile of p53 gene in NSCLC...

..Median survival in SCLC patients with and without antibodies was 42 and 39 weeks, respectively (log rank, P=0.81). These results indicate the lack of clinical relevance of serum p53 antibodies in SCLC...

..CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest a possible role of surgery in limited-stage SCLC. Thus, a randomised study addressing this issue seems to be justified...

..Additionally, the correlation between Pro72 and somatic TP53 mutations suggests that Pro72 allele carriers may be predisposed to tumour development along a p53 associated form of NSCLC, a finding that warrants further investigations...

..Data from IES concur with the findings of other studies with AIs that support the rationale of switching from tamoxifen to an AI after 2-3 years of tamoxifen in postmenopausal women who remain disease-free...

..Despite bulky visceral disease and chemoresistance, hormonal treatment with MPA resulted in a spectacular and long-lasting response...

..Despite recent developments, treatment outcomes in advanced NSCLC remain far from satisfactory, and new effective means are desperately needed if more patients are to enjoy the prospects of long-term survival...

..The expression of VEGF and FLK-1 in NSCLC cells was confirmed in this study. The relation to clinical variables and survival will be further assessed in a larger group of patients...

..Current staging methods are imprecise indications of prognosis, but high-risk patients can be identified by gene expression profiling and considered for adjuvant therapy...

..Combinations of pemetrexed with other targeted agents, such as mTOR inhibitors and compounds targeting proteasome are still at early stages of development...

..In this paper, we review the contemporary knowledge on the toxicity of breast-cancer radiotherapy and discuss possible preventive measures...

..The safety of platinum-based chemotherapy in renal transplant recipients is discussed with reference to the literature data...

..Nevertheless, the prognosis is poor, because the disease is already disseminated and in most cases other metastases will occur soon...

..The indications for these approaches are reviewed. Additionally, the recommendations of American Brachytherapy Society for the use of postoperative brachytherapy are presented...

..04). This study demonstrates that joint analysis of several factors involved in apoptosis, proliferation and cell cycle regulation, but not AI alone, might provide additional prognostic information in NSCLC patients...

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..To report a case of intraocular medulloepithelioma, an embryonal tumour with extremely rare presentation in adults...

..The clinical relevance of ERBB-1 microsatellite polymorphism in breast cancer remains to be established...

..However, families with strong breast/ovarian cancer history who are negative for these common mutations should be offered a complete BRCA gene screening, including MLPA analysis...

..The aim of the study was to analyze the occurrence of abnormal gene copy numbers of all HER oncogenes and to correlate these alterations to other clinicopathological variables in a consecutive series of 225 breast cancer patients...

..With regard to other clinical factors, stage and tumor extension (uni- or bilateral parametrium involvement for Stage III) were the only independent determinants of prognosis...

..Finally, a positive impact of quitting smoking in lung cancer patients, including those who have undergone curative resection, was presented...

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..Both brachytherapy and external beam radiotherapy are the main palliative approaches in patients with dysphagia...

..The benefit of chemotherapy applied prior to surgery remains debatable. The role of new cytotoxic and biological substances, as well as agents combating tumour hypoxia, warrants further clinical investigation...

..These results suggest the lack of prognostic relevance of p21WAF1/CIP1 expression (analyzed separately or jointly with p53 protein) in surgically treated NSCLC patients...

..Further studies are warranted to develop more effective surveillance and methods decreasing the detrimental effects of tamoxifen on the female genital tract...

..To evaluate patient compliance and acute toxicity accompanying concurrent weekly cisplatin and radiotherapy (RT) in the routine management of cervical cancer...

..To minimize the risk of unfavourable outcome, the techniques and timing of both breast reconstruction and radiotherapy should be given meticulous attention...

..Future randomized clinical trials are warranted to further elucidate the role of these regimens in breast cancer care...

..To preserve fertility, hemi-pelvis irradiation was chosen for locoregional groin recurrence of vulvar cancer in an adolescent...

..The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of long-term pamidronate treatment...

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..The use of HRT in breast cancer survivors is controversial, and until the results from prospective randomised trials are available, cannot be recommended in this group as a standard care...

..The improved overall survival and treatment convenience of 2-fraction schedule suggest its usefulness in the routine management of symptomatic inoperable NSCLC...

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..CONCLUSION: The studied regimen was accompanied by considerable toxicity, hindering delivery of irradiation within planned treatment time...

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..Precise treatment prescription, planning and verification are of paramount concern. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the impact of extrinsic and intrinsic factors associated with acute normal tissue injury...

..Finally, the data on combining targeted therapies with radiation are still scarce and do not allow for meaningful conclusions...

..We performed a systematic review of controlled clinical trials of the cytotoxic agents currently used for this population in Europe: capecitabine, gemcitabine, vinorelbine, docetaxel, paclitaxel and paclitaxel protein-bound particles...

..The impact of autologous blood transfusion on survival has only occasionally been analyzed in cancer patients...

..The objective of this study was to develop a new real time PCR-based method for quantitative detection of topoisomerase II alpha (TOP2A) aberrations and to evaluate its clinical utility in breast cancer...

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..Except for infertility and hyperthyroidism, unclassified variant-linked ovarian tumours share features with sporadic tumours rather than with BRCA1 pathogenic mutations...

..However, the risk of local failure is relatively high in patients with large primary tumors. Combined chemo-radiation is associated with relatively high rate of acute toxicity...

..The use of erythropoetins in combination with radiotherapy should generally be discouraged, whereas the safe and effective application of other agents warrants further investigations...

..To evaluate the relationship between acute and late normal tissue reactions in 317 consecutive endometrial cancer patients treated with surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy (RT)...

..Additionally, non-cardiac radiation-related vascular morbidity and mortality in breast cancer patients are addressed...

..75%), but this difference was not significant. CONCLUSION: No significant association was found between LOH on any analyzed loci and tumour stage (TNM) and grade (G). There was no correlation between LOH and survival...

..Our aim was to determine factors influencing the risk of recurrence and death in ovarian carcinoma patients with BRCA pathogenic and unclassified variant mutations...

..The histopathological examination results of primary and recurrent tumours were identical. Six patients died at the age from 40 to 89 (mean 66.8) years. The survival of patients after recurrence was from 4 to 11 (mean 7.3) months...

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..04). CONCLUSIONS: Exemestane therapy after two to three years of tamoxifen therapy significantly improved disease-free survival as compared with the standard five years of tamoxifen treatment...

..The impact of mild late radiotherapy complications on the quality of life should be further investigated. TWIST calculation should be attempted in future prospective studies evaluating the role of postoperative radiotherapy...

..Further studies are warranted to establish the place of maintenance chemotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC...

..This study evaluated whether the combination of the synthetic rexinoid bexarotene with first-line cisplatin/vinorelbine therapy provides additional survival benefit in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...

..These results indicate that p53 and p16 gene mutations tend to occur together in NSCLC, however these alterations seem not to have noteworthy clinical and prognostic significance...

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..Therefore, epoetin beta offers an effective, safe and convenient therapy for the management of anaemia in patients with cancer...

..In early phase studies, BMS- 275291 was not associated with dose-limiting joint toxicity seen with other MMPIs...

..This meta-analysis uses data from all relevant trials to detect any advantages of taxanes in terms of tumor response, progression-free survival (PFS), and survival...

..No consistent influence on QOL was detected. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated no advantage in RR, RD, or PFS but significantly superior OS for DPPE plus DOX. Additional studies of DPPE are warranted...

..Extensive-stage disease should be managed by multi-agent chemotherapy alone. Long-term survivors should undergo careful monitoring for development of a second primary tumour...

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..The aim of this study was to confirm the validity of these gene-expression signatures in a large series of patients with oestrogen-receptor-negative breast tumours who were treated in a phase III neoadjuvant clinical trial...

..The low response rates and minimal survival gains observed in second-line studies underscore the need to assess treatment efficacy with symptomatic end points...