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This article reviews the current status of local therapy for breast cancer and the likely impact of evolving molecular data on the present paradigm.

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The 5-year survival rate of cancer patients in the United States is about 66%, and today there are approximately 12 million cancer survivors in the US.

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Bone sarcomas are extremely rare neoplasms, which precludes determination of their true incidence. In 2009, approximately 2,570 new cases of cancer of the bones and joints will be diagnosed in the United States, and some 1,470 patients will succumb to the disease. Population-based tumor registries seldom separate bone sarcomas into various histologic types.

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Xerostomia, or dry mouth, is a common complaint that may be caused by several conditions, which include side effects of a wide variety of drugs, such as antidepressants, therapeutic radiation to the head and neck,

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Without question, targeted therapies have revolutionized the treatment of cancer across histologies.

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It is important to help patients with recurrent ovarian cancer recognize and acknowledge when further therapy is likely to be futile. For some patients this might occur very early in their disease course, while for others it may be after many years of treatment.

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Survivorship care is “a distinct phase of care for cancer survivors that includes four components: (1) prevention and detection of new cancer or recurrent cancer; (2) surveillance for cancer spread, recurrence, or second cancers; (3) intervention for consequences of cancer and its treatment; and (4) coordination between specialists and primary care providers to ensure that all of the survivor’s health needs are met.”

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The authors present an excellent review of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), bringing us up to date on the large body of information that has been collected since this marker came into clinical use in the mid-1980s. It is hard to believe that we have had this tool for nearly 20 years. Much has been learned.

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Statins inhibit the activity of the rate-limiting enzyme in the cholesterolbiosynthetic pathway, HMG-CoA reductase, and are widely prescribedfor lowering plasma lipid levels. Several statins have antitumor effects inexperimental models, and observational studies suggest that this anticanceractivity in the laboratory may translate into effective treatments and/orpreventive strategies for certain human cancers. This paper reviews thelaboratory and clinical evidence that statins have anticancer activity, discussesthe possible mechanisms by which tumor growth may be inhibitedby this class of drugs, and outlines strategies for the evaluation of theseagents in the prevention and treatment of human cancers.

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Although ibrutinib-related atrial fibrillation (IRAF) occurs in up to 11% of patients in clinical trials, these studies have rarely fully characterized bleeding events or risk factors for bleeding when ibrutinib is combined with anticoagulation. Furthermore, guidelines do not provide direction regarding the preferred anti-arrhythmic agent for IRAF.

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In this interview we discuss follow-up care and screening for second primary cancers in cancer survivors.

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Long-term neurotoxicity associated with central nervous system (CNS) prophylaxis for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), primarily involving physical growth and cognitive development, is an ongoing

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The Internet is rapidly becoming a third party in the doctor-patient relationship. The World Wide Web, electronic mail (e-mail), and discussion groups have dramatically increased the quantity of medical and health

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In this interview we discuss what patients expect from their cancer treatment with Deborah Schrag, MD, MPH, associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Schrag recently published a study that aimed to discover how patients with advanced cancer understand the purpose of their chemotherapy treatment.

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Oncology nurses play a pivotal role in educating the cancer patient who is about to commence oral chemotherapy. Increasing numbers of patients are receiving oral chemotherapy at home, and with this move to oral self-

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Postoperative combined-modality therapy with fluorouracil (5-FU) and radiation therapy is accepted practice for high-risk rectal cancer. Postoperative pelvic radiotherapy alone may improve pelvic control, but is not associated with an improvement in survival.

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Management of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) commonly involves excision, radiotherapy, and hormonal therapy. Radiotherapy is employed for local control in breast conservation. Evidence is evolving for several radiotherapy techniques exist beyond standard whole-breast irradiation.

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Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer (except skin cancer) in men. Several factors have been associated with an increased risk for prostate cancer, including age, ethnicity, family history, lifestyle, and

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Although resection currently remains the standard of care for renalcarcinoma, the search for less invasive treatments has led to alternativesurgical approaches. Even less invasive, and appropriate for manygroups of patients, is percutaneous radiofrequency ablation, which inducestumor necrosis via lethal hyperthermia. Multiple series of renaltumors treated with percutaneous ablation in vivo and left in situ havebeen published; these series reveal that for small renal tumors,radiofrequency ablation results in complete necrosis at imaging in 79%to 100% of cases. Because current results come from tumors left in situwith short postablation follow-up, long-term results are necessary tocompare outcomes to surgical standards. Complication rates are lowerthan those following partial nephrectomy. Future reports will shed lighton the long-term outcomes of percutaneous ablation and the relativeadvantages and disadvantages of various technologies for thermal ablation.

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We still have much to do to fully understand the potential of complementary therapies as important elements in cancer treatment and health. Mind-body and body-based interventions may be able to improve health and prevent disease as effectively as pharmacologic agents-without the toxicities associated with pharmacologics, and as adjuncts to pharmacologic therapies they may help to maximize health and diminish disease with less toxicity.

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Many cancer patients experience cachexia. In collaboration with an interdisciplinary team including dietitians, oncology nurses are well positioned to implement proactive, multimodality interventions that improve clinical outcomes and quality of life for these patients.

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What single agent does the new ASCO guideline recommend for first-line treatment of patients with stage IV non-small-cell lung cancer without positive markers but with high PD-L1 expression? Is there an age limit for use of SBRT for early-stage lung cancer? Test your knowledge in our latest quiz.

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The patient, DB, is a 47-year-old woman who has been married 24 years. Her daughter is away at college and her son is a high school senior. Last summer, DB was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. She had one positive lymph node with an estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor strongly positive tumor.

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Consider the following case study, which illustrates the complex physical and psychosocial care required for the patient developing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT): Mr. SR is a 38-year-old male with a diagnosis of anaplastic large cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL).

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In light of the recent FDA approval of HPV testing for women as a screening method for cervical cancer, we discuss changing guidelines with two experts.

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After an almost 40-year search for a primary regulatory of platelet production, thrombopoietin has recently been purified and cloned. Thrombopoietin regulates all stages in the production of platelets by promoting both the

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Opioid rotation involves changing from one opioid to another usingcorrect equianalgesic conversion techniques to achieve better analgesiaand/or fewer side effects. The strategy appears to work because ofsignificant interindividual variations in response to both analgesic activityand toxicity. Although there are many retrospective studies, fewprospective controlled trials of opioid rotation have been published.The practical and theoretical advantages of opioid rotation includeimproved analgesia, reduced side effects, cost reduction, and improvedcompliance. Disadvantages include problems related to inaccurate conversiontables, limited availability of certain opioid formulations, druginteractions, and the possibility of increased expense. Weighing theadvantages and disadvantages is essential prior to making a decisionabout opioid rotation selection.

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This article describes the clinical data that led to approval of these B-cell receptor inhibitors for the treatment of CLL, and highlights newer agents in clinical development that target the same kinases as the currently available therapies.

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Malignancies have been detected in approximately 40% of all patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) sometime during the course of their illness.