International journal of clinical oncology
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Int. J. Clin. Oncol. · Jun 2010
Out-of-pocket payment and cost-effectiveness of XELOX and XELOX plus bevacizumab therapy: from the perspective of metastatic colorectal cancer patients in Japan.
The purpose of our study was to estimate the out-of-pocket payment and cost-effectiveness of capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (XELOX) or XELOX plus bevacizumab from the perspective of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (MCRC). ⋯ We clarified the out-of-pocket payment and cost-effectiveness of chemotherapy of MCRC patients in Japan. Our previous survey shows it is highly possible that many patients prefer to pay that incremental out-of-pocket payment to gain one additional QAPFS year. However, our cost-effectiveness analysis was not conducted from the perspective of society or healthcare payers.
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Int. J. Clin. Oncol. · Jun 2010
Quality of guideline development assessed by the Evaluation Committee of the Japan Society of Clinical Oncology.
The Japan Society of Clinical Oncology started implementing clinical practice guidelines for cancer in 2001. It created a Guideline Committee and has published cancer-related information in collaboration with individual subspecialty cancer societies. The society then established an Evaluation Committee to assess the quality of guidelines. ⋯ Guideline quality has tended to improve during the 10 years since the society started this activity. However, issues remain to be improved through continuous revisions.
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We report herein a case of rapidly growing pulmonary carcinosarcoma, a rare and highly malignant lung neoplasm characterized by a biphasic histopathological pattern consisting of both epithelial and sarcomatous components, and we also summarize the clinical features of this entity based on previously reported cases. A 65-year-old man was referred for further examination of a lung tumor after a routine chest X-ray (CXR) showed a tumor shadow in the right upper lung zone. Chest computed tomography (CT) found a 2.0 cm pulmonary mass with suspected chest wall invasion in the right upper lobe, although cytological evidence of malignancy could not be obtained despite repeated preoperative bronchoscopy. ⋯ Consequently he underwent radiotherapy, but the disseminated tumors enlarged further while he received this treatment. The patient is receiving best supportive care at present. Findings based on previously reported cases and our case suggest that early surgical intervention and combined therapeutic strategy are the most important aspects of treatment for pulmonary carcinosarcoma.