Cancer
BACKGROUND:Colorectal cancer is exceedingly rare in children and adolescents. Reports from small series indicate that poor prognostic factors are more common in children than in adults, resulting in worse outcome for the pediatric population.
METHODS:The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database was searched for records of children/adolescents with colorectal cancer, and the features and...
BACKGROUND:As the global visibility and importance of breast cancer increases, especially in developing countries, ensuring that countries strengthen and develop health systems that support prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of a complex chronic disease is a priority. Understanding how breast cancer patients navigate health systems to reach appropriate levels of care is critical in assessing and...
BACKGROUND:Intravesical immunotherapy with Mycobacteriumbovis (M. bovis) bacillus Calmette‐Guerin (BCG) is the current standard of care against superficial, high‐grade transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the urinary bladder (carcinoma in situ and pathologic T1, grade 3 disease). However, individual patient outcome is barely predictable because of the lack of serum markers. Consequently, progression...
BACKGROUND:Several studies have attributed racial disparities in cancer incidence and mortality to variances in socioeconomic status and health insurance coverage. However, an Institute of Medicine report found that blacks received lower quality care than whites after controlling for health insurance, income, and disease severity.
METHODS:To examine the effects of race on colorectal cancer outcomes...
BACKGROUND:The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) play a key role in the downstream pathway of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in nonsmall cell lung cancer and promote cell proliferation, invasion, and angiogenesis. The clinical significance of phosphorylated STAT3 (pSTAT3), EGFR, p53, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR‐1) expression in patients...
BACKGROUND:Sarcomatoid features in renal cell carcinoma may represent an aggressive subclone arising from the primary tumor. The patterns of metastases for these tumors were evaluated to determine if sarcomatoid features were retained at metastasis and whether the percentage of sarcomatoid features in the primary tumor influenced spread.
METHODS:All patients with sarcomatoid features found at nephrectomy...
BACKGROUND:The incidence of pelvic fractures and associated risk factors was determined in women treated with curative‒intent radiotherapy for cervical cancer.
METHODS:The records of 516 women treated with curative‒intent radiotherapy for cervical cancer between 2001 and 2006 at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center were reviewed. Among these, 300 patients had at least 1 post‐treatment...
BACKGROUND:Treatment of febrile neutropenia (FN) is costly, because it typically involves hospitalization. As cancer rates continue to increase, the number of patients suffering from FN will also increase, making it important to quantify the costs of treating this condition accurately and comprehensively.
METHODS:A consecutive sample of patients admitted to an inpatient hematology/oncology ward at...
BACKGROUND:Although grading has prognostic significance for many tumor types, a prognostically significant grading system for lung adenocarcinoma has not yet been established. The aim of this study was to evaluate histologic characteristics included in tumor grading systems, establish optimal cutoff values that have the strongest association with overall survival, and develop a grading system incorporating...
Ewing sarcoma is the second most common type of bone cancer in children and young adults. In recent years, the mechanisms by which these tumors develop and maintain their vascular supply have been elucidated. Additional work has demonstrated that inhibition of angiogenic pathways or disruption of established vasculature can attenuate the growth of Ewing sarcoma mouse xenografts. Early clinical data...
BACKGROUND:Nodular, lymphocyte‐predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) represents a rare entity.
METHODS:A clinical registry was launched from 1973 to 2003 in France. To determine the histologic transformation (HT) rate to diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and long‐term outcomes, 164 patients were selected after histologic review.
RESULTS:The median follow‐up was 9.5 years. The high biopsy rate...
BACKGROUND.The American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) collaborate annually to provide updated information regarding cancer occurrence and trends in the United States. This year's report includes trends in colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and death rates...
BACKGROUND:The objective of this study was to define the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) and other demographic variables on outcomes for patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
METHODS:Florida cancer registry and inpatient hospital data were queried for pancreatic adenocarcinoma diagnosed from 1998 to 2002.
RESULTS:In total, 16,104 patients were identified. Low SES (LSES) patients were younger...
BACKGROUND:A significant response to placebo in randomized controlled trials of treatments for cancer‐related fatigue (CRF) had been reported. A retrospective study was conducted to determine the frequency and predictors of response to placebo effect and nocebo effects in patients with CRF treated in those trials.
METHODS:The records of 105 patients who received placebo in 2 previous randomized clinical...
BACKGROUND:In late reproductive‐aged breast cancer survivors, there is a need for real‐time biomarkers of postchemotherapy ovarian function. The objective was to determine whether antimullerian hormone (AMH) and inhibin B are such biomarkers. The authors tested whether AMH and inhibin B were impacted by breast cancer treatment by comparing cancer survivors to age‐matched control women and determined...
BACKGROUND:In prior studies, the use of standard breast cancer treatments has varied by race, but previous analyses were not nationally representative. Therefore, in a comprehensive, national cohort of Medicare patients, racial disparities in the use of radiotherapy (RT) after breast‐conserving surgery (BCS) for invasive breast cancer were quantified.
METHODS:A national Medicare database was used...