Cancer
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Decitabine improves patient outcomes in myelodysplastic syndromes: results of a phase III randomized study.
Aberrant DNA methylation, which results in leukemogenesis, is frequent in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and is a potential target for pharmacologic therapy. Decitabine indirectly depletes methylcytosine and causes hypomethylation of target gene promoters. ⋯ Decitabine was found to be clinically effective in the treatment of patients with MDS, provided durable responses, and improved time to AML transformation or death. The duration of decitabine therapy may improve these results further.
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Ewing sarcoma (ES) and extraosseous ES/primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) share histopathologic features of the ES family of tumors (ESFT). The authors report on their results from a regimen of ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide (ICE) with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and vincristine (CAV) dose intensification in patients with high-risk ESFT. ⋯ The current results showed that ICE plus CAV was tolerated well and was effective in the studied subset of tumors, indicating that dose intensification correlates with better disease control, a high percentage of necrosis, and conservative surgery in patients with high-risk ESFT.
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Anemia is a well-recognized complication of concurrent chemoradiation therapy for head and neck carcinoma. It impairs quality of life and many studies also have reported an association between anemia and increased tumor recurrence and decreased long-term survival. In the current study, the authors attempted to identify the severity, risk factors, and physician practices in the management of anemia. ⋯ Anemia is prevalent in patients undergoing treatment for head and neck carcinoma and can be severe with concurrent chemoradiation therapy. However, the intensity of anemia management is low. A low baseline hemoglobin level and the reception of multiple concurrent chemotherapeutic agents are considered to be the main risk factors of anemia. Cancer 2006.
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Comparative Study
Survival rates and patterns of care for patients diagnosed with supratentorial low-grade gliomas: data from the SEER program, 1973-2001.
Detailed population-based estimates of long-term survival as well as patterns of care for patients with low-grade gliomas examined by age at diagnosis, gender, and race have not been widely available. ⋯ Data for patients diagnosed with low-grade gliomas revealed increasing survival times over the past 25 years with a subset of patients surviving for decades. Differences in survival by race, gender, histology, and first course of treatment were appreciated. These data suggested that the clinical course of low-grade glioma for some patients may be more encouraging than previously perceived and that the identification of this group of patients may allow refinement of current treatment protocols.