Cancer
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Clinical Trial
Paclitaxel, carboplatin, and gemcitabine in the treatment of patients with advanced transitional cell carcinoma of the urothelium.
The objective of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of combination chemotherapy with paclitaxel, carboplatin, and gemcitabine in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma. ⋯ The combination of paclitaxel, carboplatin, and gemcitabine was an active and tolerable regimen for patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma. However, the regimen was more toxic and showed no obvious incremental increase in efficacy compared retrospectively with various two-drug regimens.
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Comparative Study
Hormone receptor status and survival in a population-based cohort of patients with breast carcinoma.
The objective of this study was to assess hormone receptor status as an independent predictor of survival in a population-based cohort of women with breast carcinoma who were followed for up to 11 years. ⋯ Hormone receptor status was identified as an independent predictor of outcome in women with breast carcinoma. Data from clinical trials with long follow-up may shed light on whether and how the benefit of hormonal and other treatment varies with hormone receptor status.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
HER-2/neu expression as a predictor of response to neoadjuvant docetaxel in patients with operable breast carcinoma.
The use of biologic markers to predict response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy may permit tailoring regimens to achieve maximal tumor response. Taxanes have demonstrated excellent activity in breast carcinoma; however, tumor-specific factors that predict clinical response have not been characterized thoroughly. ⋯ HER-2/neu status may predict improved clinical response rates from the addition of docetaxel to anthracycline-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Docetaxel may "rescue" the response in women who have HER-2/neu-negative tumors to match that observed in women who have HER-2/neu-positive tumors treated with AC alone.
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Comparative Study
Relation between smoking cessation and receiving results from three annual spiral chest computed tomography scans for lung carcinoma screening.
The relation between undergoing a single computed tomography (CT) screening for lung carcinoma and the potential long-term impact on smoking status has been equivocal. Perhaps, recommendations from multiple cancer screenings may promote smoking abstinence among individuals at high risk for lung carcinoma. ⋯ Smokers with abnormal CT findings from multiple CT screens were more likely to be abstinent from smoking at the 3-year follow-up. Multiple low-dose, fast spiral chest CT scan screenings for lung carcinoma may represent teachable moments and opportunities to enhance motivation for smoking abstinence. Further research is needed to continue to investigate how annual screening may enhance motivation for health behavior change.
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Several investigations that yielded different results in terms of net changes in body composition of weight-losing cancer patients have been reported that employed a variety of methods based on fundamentally different technology. Most of those reports were cross-sectional, whereas to the authors' knowledge there is sparse information available on longitudinal follow-up measurements in relation to other independent methods for the assessment of metabolism and performance. ⋯ The current results demonstrated that body fat was lost more rapidly than lean tissue in progressive cancer cachexia, a phenomenon that was related highly to alterations in the levels of circulating classic hormones and food intake, including both caloric amount and diet composition. The results showed importance in the planning of efficient palliative treatment for cancer patients.