Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN
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J Natl Compr Canc Netw · Aug 2007
ReviewPoint: the value of predicting life expectancy in men with clinically localized prostate cancer.
The prediction of life expectancy in prostate cancer screening and treatment is a controversial topic that evokes various opinions regarding its validity. The authors believe incorporating life expectancy prediction into the treatment algorithms for prostate cancer is important. ⋯ These estimates can then be used to help guide treatment discussion. Estimating life expectancy benefits older men in whom decisions regarding the best form of treatment may be difficult.
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J Natl Compr Canc Netw · Mar 2007
ReviewGuidelines for improving breast health care in limited resource countries: the Breast Health Global Initiative.
Breast cancer is an increasingly urgent problem in low- and mid-level resource regions of the world. Despite knowing the optimal management strategy based on guidelines developed in wealthy countries, clinicians are forced to provide less-than-optimal care when diagnostic or treatment resources are lacking. For this reason, it is important to identify which resources most effectively fill health care needs in limited-resource regions, where patients commonly present with more advanced disease at diagnosis, and to provide guidance on how new resource allocations should be made to maximize improvement in outcome. ⋯ The BHGI collaborated with 12 national and international health organizations, cancer societies, and nongovernmental organizations to host 2 BHGI international summits. The evidence-based BHGI guidelines, developed at the 2002 Global Summit, were published in 2003 as a theoretical treatise on international breast health care. These guidelines were then updated and expanded at the 2005 Global Summit into a fully comprehensive and flexible framework to permit incremental improvements in health care delivery, based on outcomes, cost, cost-effectiveness, and use of health care services.
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J Natl Compr Canc Netw · Sep 2006
ReviewLiver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma: an update.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide and the most common primary hepatic malignancy. It arises on a background of hepatic cirrhosis in approximately 95% of the cases in the United States. ⋯ Transplantation for patients whose tumors do not exceed the Milan criteria yields results equivalent to those of transplantation for non-HCC indications. Controversy now exists regarding the use of living donors, expansion of selection criteria, and role of adjuvant therapy.