Cancer
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Angiogenesis in individuals with various solid tumors has provided useful information on tumor progression and prognosis, and many examples of mast cell (MC) accumulation coupled with angiogenesis can be found in the literature. ⋯ These data indicate that MC infiltration may contribute to tumor angiogenesis and tumor progression, and that MCD is a useful prognostic marker in pulmonary adenocarcinoma.
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Delirium is a common neuropsychiatric complication in patients with advanced cancer. The Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale (MDAS) is a recently developed 10-item severity rating instrument. The purpose of the current prospective study was to further assess the clinical utility, factor structure, and validity of the MDAS in a relatively homogeneous population of patients with advanced cancer. ⋯ The authors concluded that the MDAS structure is representative of the many features of delirium, broadly grouped as global cognitive and neurobehavioral dimensions. Prorating item scores is necessary in approximately 20% of advanced cancer patients with delirium. This poses potential limitations on the applicability of the MDAS in research. Conversely, the ability to prorate item scores confers a clinical advantage to the instrument when assessing delirium in a patient population with advanced cancer.
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In 1998, an unusually large number of invasive lobular breast carcinoma cases were seen at the University of Washington. The purpose of this study was to assess whether the incidence rate of invasive lobular carcinoma has been increasing disproportionately compared with the incidence rate of invasive ductal carcinoma. ⋯ The incidence rates of invasive lobular breast carcinomas increased steadily since 1977 whereas the incidence rates of invasive ductal carcinoma have plateaued since 1987. This rise occurred specifically among women age >/= 50 years and may be related to postmenopausal status. Further epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory research is required to assess what factors are contributing to this trend.
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To the authors' knowledge there are few available data regarding the influence of lymphovascular space invasion, which has been examined separately as two components (lymphatic vessel invasion [LVI] and blood vessel invasion [BVI]), in the metastasis of cervical carcinoma. ⋯ Ovarian metastasis may occur via hematogenous spread of cervical carcinoma. The results of the current study suggest that BVI, including capillary vessels, that is diagnosed separately from LVI using hematoxylin and eosin stained sections may be an important prognostic factor for patients with cervical carcinoma.
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The authors analyzed retrospectively their institution's experience in treating patients with localized prostate carcinoma with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) to determine the correlation of various biochemical failure (BF) definitions with clinical failure and cause specific survival (CSS). ⋯ The correlation between BF and clinical failure and CSD varies markedly depending on the BF definition used. Definitions incorporating a fixed baseline (the nadir level) and the postnadir PSA profile may have better correlation with clinical failure than definitions using the nadir only or a specific number of consecutive rises in which a variable baseline "resets" after a PSA decrease.