ONCOLOGY Vol 15 No 6

While many people continue to worry about Medicare’s coverage of currently available oral chemotherapy drugs, Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) is waving a warning flag about future drugs. Her Access to Cancer Therapies Act (H.R. 1624)

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center report that very low doses of a potent new bisphosphonate, zoledronic acid (Zometa), reduces the complications arising from multiple myeloma and breast cancer that have metastasized to the bone. The

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is backing legislation (H.R. 1097) that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate tobacco products. The legislation explicitly states that nicotine should be

Most patients do not want to use investigational treatments even though entry into cancer clinical trials is frequently associated with a higher survival rate. This is just one of the reasons why patients do not participate in trials, according to researchers at

Contrary to speculation, long-term use of tamoxifen (Nolvadex) does not affect mood or sexual functioning, according to British researchers who studied the use of this antiestrogenic drug in women who are at high risk of developing breast cancer

Patients with both melanoma of the skin and positive lymph nodes may suffer regional relapse after lymphadenectomy, according to a report in the Annals of Surgical Oncology (8[2]:109-115, 2001). The report cites a study by John Gibbs, md,

Outline of Oncology Therapeutics is a well-written, concise, and up-to-date book providing detailed descriptions of a variety of medications and issues important to the overall care and treatment of patients with cancer. Oncology practice today

The field of surgical oncology isgrowing rapidly. As it assumes

Rep. Pryce is also cochair of the House Cancer Working Group. In March, she introduced the Access to Cancer Clinical Trials Act (H.R. 967), which would require health insurers to pay for the routine costs incurred by patients in

Drs. Armstrong and Davidson have nicely reviewed the use of dose-intensive chemotherapy in the treatment of metastatic and high-risk early-stage breast cancer, and we agree with the basic premise of the article-that there are no conclusive data

Drs. Vaughn and Malkowicz have provided us with a succinct, thorough, evidence-based overview of the current role of chemotherapy in advanced bladder cancer. Their discussion highlights the veritable explosion of new chemotherapy agents

The article entitled "Neoadjuvant Strategies for Pancreatic Cancer," by Drs. Evans, Wolff, and Crane, is an excellent review of past and current developments in adjuvant therapy for pancreatic cancer. In addition to a thorough literature review, the authors draw on their own extensive experience in neoadjuvant therapy for pancreatic cancer at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

The article by Dr. Weinstein is a discussion of the newer surgical options available for the treatment of patients with laryngeal cancer. Several aspects of the article deserve mention.

The management of cancer of the larynx has arguably become the most complicated task in the field of head and neck oncology. Both physicians and patients struggle to decide how initial treatment should be delivered. Treatment decisions

We have made much progress over the past 30 years in the surgical management of pancreatic cancer, and perioperative mortality rates are low in centers with experience in the treatment of this disease. However, surgical resection is clearly limited in achieving local and systemic control of pancreatic cancer, and chemoradiation will likely become a part of any successful pancreatic cancer treatment program.

It has been roughly 20 years since chemotherapy dose escalation was proposed as a possible strategy for improving outcomes in patients with breast cancer.[1,2] This concept has sustained a series of remarkable rollercoaster-like controversies, with heated arguments at national meetings, substantial lay press coverage, patients suing their insurance companies seeking coverage, legislative fiats requiring third-party payment long before critical data were available, and a well-publicized episode of clinical scientific fraud that is nearly unprecedented in its audacity. How did we get here from there?

This report by Drs. Evans, Wolff, and Crane is a well-written and concise description of their extensive experience with the treatment of pancreatic cancer. They and others at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center should be congratulated for their innovative, methodical, and thoughtful approach to the treatment of this lethal disease.

Drs. Vaughn and Malkowicz provide a fairly extensive and balanced review of chemotherapy for metastatic bladder cancer. They highlight the results obtained with some of the most commonly employed regimens that have been evaluated

With the understanding of the mechanism of malignant transformation has come the knowledge that oncogene products are frequently growth factors, growth factor receptors, or elements of growth factor signal-transduction pathways. Overexpression

Nonsurgical approaches to preservation of the larynx in the treatment of laryngeal carcinoma include either radiation alone or chemotherapy and radiation in combination. In light of the common use of total laryngectomy,

Despite nearly 20 years of study, the importance of chemotherapy dose intensity in breast cancer remains unclear. Substantial preclinical data suggest a dose-response relationship, and consistent data document that

Recent prospective and retrospective data suggest that the use of multimodality therapy combining pancreaticoduodenectomy with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (fluorouracil) and external-beam radiation

In the past 10 years, the introduction of combined chemotherapy and radiation as an alternative to total laryngectomy for patients with advanced laryngeal cancer ushered in a new treatment paradigm termed "organ preservation." The adoption of

Invasive bladder cancer is a chemotherapy-sensitive neoplasm. Historically, the development of cisplatin (Platinol)-based chemotherapy regimens has represented an important advance for patients with metastatic

Novartis recently announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its signal transduction inhibitor Gleevec (imatinib mesylate) as an oral therapy for the treatment of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in

Combination chemotherapy with carboplatin (Paraplatin) and docetaxel (Taxotere) is a highly active and generally well-tolerated regimen when used as initial therapy for gynecologic cancers, including cancers of the ovary, fallopian tubes, and the

One of the national health objectives for 2010 is to reduce the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults to no more than 12% (objective 21.la). To assess progress toward meeting this objective, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention