Journal of thoracic oncology : official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
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Despite recent therapeutic advances, lung cancer is a difficult disease to manage. This study assessed clinicians' perceptions of care difficulty, quality of life (QOL), and symptom reports for their lung cancer patients compared with their patients with breast, prostate, and colon cancer. ⋯ Clinicians were more pessimistic about the well-being of their lung cancer patients compared with patients with other solid tumors. Differences remained for clinician perceptions of patient QOL and weight difficulty, even after controlling for such variables as stage, performance status, and patient-reported outcomes. These continuing disparities suggest possible perception bias. More research is needed to confirm this disparity and explore the underpinnings.
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Clinical Trial
Long-term outcome after en bloc resection of non-small-cell lung cancer invading the pulmonary sulcus and spine.
Lung cancer invading the spine historically has been considered unresectable. Nevertheless, considerable surgical progress has been made since the 1990s potentially allowing for curative resection. Here, we describe our surgical experience and long-term results. ⋯ En bloc resection of the lung, chest wall, and spine for non-small-cell lung cancer invading the pulmonary sulcus and spine is feasible in experienced centers with excellent long-term outcome after careful patient selection. Response to induction was an independent significant prognostic factor.
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Cetuximab and bevacizumab have each been demonstrated to prolong survival when added to chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the potential benefit of combining cetuximab and bevacizumab together with a platinum-based doublet had not been explored. We designed this phase II trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of the combination of carboplatin, paclitaxel, cetuximab, and bevacizumab in chemotherapy-naive patients with advanced, nonsquamous NSCLC. ⋯ This regimen was safe, feasible, and effective as a frontline treatment of advanced NSCLC, providing the basis for the ongoing phase III trial S0819.