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Younger cancer survivors experience worse survival outcomes following a second primary cancer diagnosis than their older counterparts, according to a recent study.

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In the long term, ICD-10 has the potential to benefit oncology through improved data collection, but right now, practices just need to focus on preparing for the change. Here are 10 tips for oncologists.

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As noted by Back,[1] the primarygoals of effective patient-physician communicationare to enhance patient understandingof the illness, to improvedecision-making, and to facilitate patientadjustment. These three goalsare sensible and important concernsof the communication dyad. A numberof studies have examined variousaspects of the communication processand the factors that influence communicationoutcomes, and a few evenhave tested interventions to improvephysician communication skills. However,there remains a dearth of studiesthat examine communication effectson the three major goals articulatedabove and that evaluate the effectivenessof communication skill interventionsin influencing patient outcomes.

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Drs. Ramaswamy and Shapiropresent a timely and comprehensivereview of the potentialuses of bisphosphonates and theirindications in the prevention and treatmentof bone metastasis. The reviewprovides a concise summary of thepathophysiology of skeletal metastasesand describes emerging biologicprinciples that open the door for novel,highly targeted therapeutic interventions.It is generally accepted thatrelative osteoclast hyperactivity resultsin excess bone resorption, which isthe basic process behind bone metastasis,osteoporosis, and hypercalcemiaof malignancy. Osteoprotegerin,the receptor activator of nuclear factor–kappa B (RANK), and the kappa Bligand (RANK-L) have critical rolesin osteoclastogenesis. In addition,parathyroid hormone–related proteinalso plays a major role in osteoblastactivation and production of RANKLas well as terminal osteoclast differentiationand activation.

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The three words “You’ve got cancer” can change someone’s life. After being diagnosed with cancer, questions arise: Can it be cured? Why me? Am I going to die? Luckily, as advances have been made in the treatment of cancer, the diagnosis of cancer is not necessarily a terminal one. In fact, many cancers, such as breast or colon cancer, when detected early enough, are curable, and treatment advances have resulted in long-term survivorship across many cancers.

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Anne McTiernan has provideda comprehensive and balancedreview of a complex topic,namely, “Obesity and Cancer: TheRisks, Science, and Potential ManagementStrategies.” The impressiveweight of assembled evidence from thecited observational studies has been sufficientto influence several cancer organizations,including the AmericanCancer Society and the American Institutefor Cancer Prevention, to issuerecommendations regarding nutritionand physical activity in relationship tocancer.[1,2] However, clinical practiceis unlikely to undergo substantialchange in the absence of prospectivetrials demonstrating benefit on clinicaloutcomes.[3] For at least the breast cancerand obesity question, informationfrom phase III randomized, prospectiveclinical trials evaluating lifestyleintervention influence on clinical outcomeare anticipated in the near future.

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Cancer Nursing: Principles and Practice is widely considered to be the basic textbook on cancer nursing. With this edition, every chapter has been updated to reflect the latest research and references, and many of the chapters now include

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All nursing personnel actively participate in the nursing process, with the registered nurse taking primary responsibility. Five steps in the nursing process include assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Health-care professionals have more than 10 years of experience with EGFR inhibitors in the oncology setting. To date, the application of the nursing process to assist in patient management has not been previously published or thoroughly described in the literature. This article will apply the nursing process utilizing current recommendations regarding the assessment and management of dermatologic toxicities associated with EGFR inhibitors.

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Only about 15% of patients diagnosed with lung carcinoma eachyear are surgical candidates, either due to advanced disease orcomorbidities. The past decade has seen the emergence of minimallyinvasive therapies using thermal energy sources: radiofrequency,cryoablation, focused ultrasound, laser, and microwave; radiofrequencyablation (RFA) is the best developed of these. Radiofrequency ablationis safe and technically highly successful in terms of initial ablation.Long-term local control or complete necrosis rates drop considerablywhen tumors are larger than 3 cm, although repeat ablations can beperformed. Patients with lung metastases tend to fare better with RFlung ablation than those with primary lung carcinoma in terms of localcontrol, but it is unclear if this is related to smaller tumor size at time oftreatment, lesion size uniformity, and sphericity with lung metastases,or to differences in patterns of pathologic spread of disease. The effectsof RFA on quality of life, particularly dyspnea and pain, as well aslong-term outcome studies are generally lacking. Even so, the resultsregarding RF lung ablation are comparable to other therapies currentlyavailable, particularly for the conventionally unresectable or high-risklung cancer population. With refinements in technology, patient selection,clinical applications, and methods of follow-up, RFA will continueto flourish as a potentially viable stand-alone or complementarytherapy for both primary and secondary lung malignancies in standardand high-risk populations.

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A trial was designed to examine the combination of UFT and mitomycin (Mutamycin) plus tamoxifen (Nolvadex) as postoperative adjuvant therapy in the treatment of patients with stage II, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive

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In this excellent review of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) treatment, the authors highlight opportunities offered by incorporating arsenic trioxide (ATO) into the therapeutic armamentarium.

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Irinotecan and mitomycin (Mutamycin) possess significant single-agent activity against several tumor types, and mitomycin activates topoisomerase I, the cellular target of irinotecan. We conducted a phase I dose-escalation study of irinotecan and mitomycin in 37 evaluable patients with solid tumors. Antitumor responses included 2 complete responses, 5 partial responses, 10 minor responses, and a CA 19-9 tumor marker response.

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Lung cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men and women in the United States, and is the leading cause of cancer death.Over 160,000 individuals died as a result of lung cancer in 2008.[1] This number amounted to more than the number of deaths from colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined. The majority of lung cancer cases are non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and the poor outcomes are attributed to the high rate of metastases associated with this disease.

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This management guide covers the risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis, staging, and treatment of colorectal and anal cancers.

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The evolution of surgical oncologic technology has moved toward reducing patient morbidity without compromising oncologic resection. In head and neck surgery, organ-preserving techniques have paved the way for the development of transoral techniques that remove tumors of the upper aerodigestive tract without external incisions and potentially spare the patient adjuvant treatment. The introduction of transoral robotic surgery (TORS) improves upon current transoral techniques to the oropharynx and supraglottis. This review will report on the evolution of robotic-assisted surgery: We will cover its applications in head and neck surgery by examining early oncologic and functional outcomes, training of surgeons, costs, and future directions.

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There is no evidence that PCV is more effective than TMZ for the treatment of glioblastoma. However, there is unequivocal evidence that PCV is more toxic than TMZ.

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Ms. B is a 44-year-old married African-American female who was diagnosed with locally advanced right breast cancer in 2002. Immunohistochemistry in the original tumor was estrogen- and progesterone-receptor-negative, HER2-positive. Her past medical history is significant for hypertension and miscarriage in 1995.

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Conventional methods for treating brain metastasis, such as surgery, WBRT, and SRS, each compete with and complement one another. A plethora of recent studies have helped define and expand the utility of these tools.

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Adverse effects associated with oral azacitidine in low- or intermediate-risk MDS are typically transient, according to Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD, MS.

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Small bowel adenocarcinoma is a relatively rare malignancy. Only limited information is available on the incidence, prognosis, and role of chemotherapy in the treatment of this disease. We present a review of currently

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The strongest aspect of TCGA is that the data are publically available, fueling the input needed for unparalleled discovery. As the broader scientific community continues to analyze and integrate TCGA data with their own datasets, it is highly likely that breast cancer patients will benefit.

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This review highlights the current status of the research in targeting the insulin growth factor pathway with a specific focus on gastrointestinal cancers.

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Gastric cancer is a global health issue. Most cases are diagnosed atan advanced stage with poor prognosis. Current therapies have a modestimpact on survival. Surgery remains the only potentially curativetreatment, but is associated with a high rate of locoregional recurrenceand distant metastases. Total gastrectomy for proximal cancers is complicatedby postoperative morbidity and quality-of-life impairment.Combined-modality therapy may improve outcomes in this disease.Adjuvant therapy for gastric cancer has now become the standard inthe Western world. However, adjuvant therapy improves survival by onlya few months and is associated with high morbidity. Neoadjuvant therapyis commonly used for esophageal and gastroesophageal junction cancers,but is still regarded as investigational in gastric cancer. Severalsmall phase II studies indicate the feasibility of neoadjuvant strategies.The incorporation of novel, targeted agents into neoadjuvant programsand an assessment of biologic changes within the tumor may refinetherapy. This article provides a concise review of the literature onneoadjuvant therapy for gastric cancer and suggests avenues for furtherinvestigation.

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Among the most exciting new anticancer products presented at the 2001 ASCO meeting were new drugs that block the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). About 30% to 90% of carcinomas express high levels of EGFR. These include, among others, head and neck cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and bladder cancer.

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Mesotheliomas are uncommon in the United States, with an incidenceof about 3,000 new cases per year (or a risk of about 11 per million Americansper year). Incidence and mortality, however, are probably underestimated.Most are associated with asbestos, although some have arisen inports of prior radiation, and a reported association with simian virus (SV)40remains controversial. About 85% of mesotheliomas arise in the pleura,about 9% in the peritoneum, and a small percentage in the pericardiumor tunica vaginalis testis. The histology of about half of mesotheliomas isepithelial (tubular papillary), with the remainder sarcomatous or mixed.Multicystic mesotheliomas and well-differentiated papillary mesotheliomasare associated with long survival in the absence of treatmentand should be excluded from clinical trials intended for the usual rapidlylethal histologic variants of the disease. The median survival isunder a year, although longer median survivals for selected patients,particularly those with epithelial histology, have been reported in somecombined-modality studies. Recent randomized trials have shown significantimprovement in time to progression and survival for the additionof new antifolates to platinum-based chemotherapy.

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There is a clear need to improve the clinical management of vascular lesions of the head and neck. This paper by Waner and Suen corrects some of the common misconceptions and emphasizes that each vascular lesion must be recognized, understood, and treated on an individual basis.

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Congenital vascular lesions are often misdiagnosed and, for the most part, left untreated. The absence of a uniformly accepted classification of these lesions and confusion over their natural history are partly responsible. A new classification of these lesions recognizes two distinct groups of lesions, hemangiomas and vascular malformations.

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In this interview on medullary thyroid carcinoma we discuss treatment strategies, prognostic biomarkers, surveillance following treatment, and more.

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In this interview we discuss new data on the use of radiotherapy in cancer patients with brain metastases.