Cancer
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Symptom management is an essential component of cancer treatment for patients of every culture and nationality. Symptom assessment depends on subjective reporting, mandating linguistically equivalent versions of symptom assessment scales. Because disease-related and treatment-related symptoms most often occur in clusters, there is a global need for a standardized multiple-symptom assessment tool. ⋯ The authors demonstrated that the MDASI-C is a valid, reliable, and concise tool for measuring symptom severity and interference with functioning in Chinese cancer patients.
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Inferior vena cava (IVC) filters have proven to be a viable alternative to anticoagulation therapy for the prevention of life-threatening pulmonary emboli (PE) for patients who have contraindications to anticoagulation therapy. The clinical benefit of placing IVC filters in patients with advanced-stage cancer is controversial. The current study reported the authors' experience with IVC filters in patients with cancer. ⋯ IVC filters were shown to be safe and highly effective in preventing PE-related deaths in patients with cancer with VTE disease. Patients with a history of DVT and bleeding or metastatic/disseminated stage of disease had the lowest survival after IVC filter placement.
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More than 50% of all lung carcinoma cases are diagnosed in patients age > 65 years, and approximately 30% are diagnosed in patients age > 70 years. Elderly patients do not tolerate chemotherapy as well as their younger counterparts do, primarily because of the increased prevalence of comorbid conditions and organ failure. Thus, at present, the majority of elderly patients with malignant disease do not receive aggressive chemotherapy. For such elderly patients, alternatives to conventional chemotherapy, such as novel molecularly targeted therapy regimens, are of interest. ⋯ Current studies are investigating the safety and efficacy of these novel biologic agents administered alone, in combination with other noncytotoxic agents, and in combination with conventional chemotherapy. These studies will help elucidate the role of targeted therapy in the management of elderly patients with advanced NSCLC.
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Comparative Study
The effect of ethnicity on immediate reconstruction rates after mastectomy for breast cancer.
Multiple factors may influence whether patients undergo immediate breast reconstruction along with mastectomy for breast cancer. The authors investigated whether ethnicity was an independent predictor of immediate breast reconstruction. ⋯ African-American women underwent immediate breast reconstruction at significantly lower rates compared with white women, Hispanic women, and Asian women. After adjusting for covariates, including age and disease stage, African-American women and Asian women had lower rates of reconstruction compared with white women. The factors that contribute to these differences warrant further study.
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Review Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
The role of aromatase inhibitors in the adjuvant treatment of breast carcinoma: the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center evidence-based approach.
The authors examined the published evidence on the use of aromatase inhibitors (AIs) in the adjuvant setting in postmenopausal, hormone receptor-positive patients, and they provide recommendations for clinical management in 3 different situations: newly diagnosed women, women who have already received tamoxifen for 2-3 years, and women who have completed 5-years of tamoxifen and are disease free. ⋯ Current data support anastrozole as first-line adjuvant hormonal therapy, or a change to AIs after 2-3 years of tamoxifen, or the use of letrozole at the end of a 5-year course of tamoxifen as first-choice treatment options for the management of hormone receptor-positive breast carcinoma in postmenopausal women. Ongoing clinical trials should help to define the precise timing, duration, and sequencing of AI therapy, in addition to the long-term tolerability profile and potential differences between anastrozole, letrozole, and exemestane.