Posted on Tue, Sep 20, 2011
A Best of Oncology Report
Top New Pediatric Articles
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Ranked, sorted, and summarized by MDLinx editors from the latest literature
This month's best articles from 153 contributor journals
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Posted on Wed, Sep 14, 2011
Different Characteristics of Thymomas With and Without Myasthenia Gravis
Annals of Surgical Oncology, 09/14/2011
Yu L et al. – Myasthenia gravis (MG) seldom occurs in types A and C thymoma. MG of some thymoma patients was not caused by thymoma, but by the paraneoplastic thymus. The prognosis of thymomas with MG is similar to that without MG. The main cause of death is myasthenia crisis for thymoma patients with MG and stage IV and/or type C for thymoma patients without MG...read more
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Posted on Mon, Aug 15, 2011
Early decline in cancer antigen 125 as a surrogate for progression-free survival in recurrent ovarian cancer
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 08/15/2011
Lee CK et al. – The findings of this study are opposite to what would be expected if these markers were good surrogates for treatment benefit.
Methods
- Used data from 886 patients from the CAELYX in Platinum Sensitive Ovarian Patients (CALYPSO) trial, recruited between April 2005 and September 2007, to examine the role of early decline in cancer antigen 125 (CA125) and early tumor response as prognostic factors and surrogates for superiority of treatment with carboplatin–pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (CPLD) compared with carboplatin–paclitaxel (CP) in a landmark analysis
- PFS was estimated by Kaplan–Meier analyses
- Used univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses to assess early decline and early response as surrogates for CPLD treatment benefit compared with CP
- All statistical tests were 2-sided
Results
- Early decline (defined as rate of CA125 decrease of at least 50% per month) was associated with improved PFS (adjusted HR for progression = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.67 to 0.97, P = .02) but early response (complete or partial responses) was not
- CPLD associated with ...Read More
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Posted on Wed, Jul 27, 2011
Does primary tumor resection improve outcomes for patients with incurable advanced breast cancer?
The Breast, 07/27/2011
Shibasaki S et al. – Primary tumor resection failed to prolong overall survival times in patients with incurable advanced breast cancer that was greater than 5cm. However, surgery did improve the quality of life in patients who were expected to have a relatively long prognosis
Methods
- 92 women, who had tumors of greater than 5cm and distant metastasis at diagnosis, were included in this study
- Effect of surgical treatment on survival was evaluated
- Patient demographics and tumor characteristics were also investigated
Results
- 36 patients had surgery for resection of primary tumors
- No substantive differences between individuals, or between tumor characteristics, for patients who underwent surgery versus patients who did not
- Median survival time for surgically treated patients was 25.0 months versus 24.8 months for patients who did not undergo surgical resection (P=0.352)
- Only three patients relapsed within ...read more
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Posted on Thu, Jun 30, 2011
Costs of early adjuvant radiation therapy after radical prostatectomy: A decision analysis
Annals of Oncology, 06/30/2011 Clinical Article
Showalter TN et al. – ART appears cost effective compared with observation based upon this decision analysis model. Future research should consider more costly radiation therapy (RT) approaches, such as intensity-modulated RT, and should evaluate the cost-effectiveness of ART versus early salvage RT.
Methods
- Decision analysis model designed to compare ART versus observation over 10-year time horizon
- Probabilities of treatment success, utilization of salvage treatments, and rates of adverse events were taken from published results of SWOG 8794
- Cost inputs were based on 2010 Medicare reimbursement rates
- Primary outcome measure was incremental cost per prostate-specific antigen (PSA) success (i.e. serum PSA level <0.4 ng/ml)
Results ...read more
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Posted on Tue, Jun 07, 2011
New England Journal of Medicine, 06/07/2011 Clinical Article
Goss PE et al. – Exemestane significantly reduced invasive breast cancers in postmenopausal women who were at moderately increased risk for breast cancer. During a median follow-up period of 3 years, exemestane was associated with no serious toxic effects and only minimal changes in health-related quality of life.
Methods
- Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of exemestane
- Study designed to detect 65% relative reduction in invasive breast cancer, eligible postmenopausal women 35 years of age or older had at least 1 of the following risk factors: 60 years of age or older; Gail 5-year risk score greater than 1.66% (chances in 100 of invasive breast cancer developing within 5 years); prior atypical ductal or lobular hyperplasia or lobular carcinoma in situ; or ductal carcinoma in situ with mastectomy
- Toxic effects and health-related and menopause-specific qualities of life measured
Results
- 4560 women for whom median age was 62.5 years and median Gail risk score was 2.3% were randomly assigned to either exemestane or placebo
- At median follow-up of 35 months, 11 invasive breast cancers detected in ...read more
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