The cancer journal
-
Factors predictive of outcome in patients with breast cancer refractory to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical, pathological, and treatment factors that are predictive of local-regional recurrence and overall survival for patients with breast cancer that is refractory to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. ⋯ For patients with a poor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, conventional treatments achieve reasonable outcomes in those with lymph node-negative disease or estrogen receptor-positive disease. However, more active systemic and local therapies are needed for patients with estrogen receptor-negative disease and positive lymph nodes and for those with clinical evidence of progressive disease during neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
-
The purpose of this study was to compare the toxicity, particularly rectal, between short-course, intensity-modulated radiotherapy (SCIM-RT) delivering 70 Gy in 28 fractions and three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) delivering 78 Gy in 39 fractions. ⋯ SCIM-RT, delivering 70.0 Gy at 2.5 Gy per fraction, had an acute and late toxicity profile up to 18 months after therapy that was similarto that of 3D-CRT delivering 78.0 Gy at 2.0 Gy per fraction. The grade 2 actuarial combined rectal toxicity rate is low (10%) at 18 months, although it increased when rectal volumes > 15 mL received 70 Gy with SCIM-RT. Only 7% of SCIM-RT cases received 70 Gy to > 15 ml of the rectum. If longer follow-up confirms the low late toxicity rates, SCIM-RT will be an alternative and more convenient method of dose-escalation in the treatment of localized prostate cancer.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Zoledronic acid versus pamidronate in the treatment of skeletal metastases in patients with breast cancer or osteolytic lesions of multiple myeloma: a phase III, double-blind, comparative trial.
Zoledronic acid, a new and more potent bisphosphonate, was compared with pamidronate, the current standard treatment for patients with osteolytic or mixed bone metastases/lesions. ⋯ Zoledronic acid (4 mg) via 15-minute intravenous infusion was as effective and well tolerated as 90 mg of pamidronate in the treatment of osteolytic and mixed bone metastases/lesions in patients with advanced breast cancer or multiple myeloma. (Can-
-
The purpose of this article is to evaluate whether the presence of perineural invasion (PNI) in the biopsy specimen is predictive of 5-year biochemical disease-free outcome after prostate brachytherapy. ⋯ Our results indicate that actuarial 5-year biochemical outcomes with a prostate brachytherapy approach that utilizes generous periprostatic margins is not dependent on the presence of PNI. In addition, PNI should not be used as an independent prognosticator in determining the need for combined-modality therapy in patients undergoing prostate brachytherapy.