The lancet oncology
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The lancet oncology · Apr 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyEffects of adjuvant exemestane versus anastrozole on bone mineral density for women with early breast cancer (MA.27B): a companion analysis of a randomised controlled trial.
Treatment of breast cancer with aromatase inhibitors is associated with damage to bones. NCIC CTG MA.27 was an open-label, phase 3, randomised controlled trial in which women with breast cancer were assigned to one of two adjuvant oral aromatase inhibitors-exemestane or anastrozole. We postulated that exemestane-a mildly androgenic steroid-might have a less detrimental effect on bone than non-steroidal anastrozole. In this companion study to MA.27, we compared changes in bone mineral density (BMD) in the lumbar spine and total hip between patients treated with exemestane and patients treated with anastrozole. ⋯ Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute, Pfizer, Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
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The lancet oncology · Apr 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study4 Gy versus 24 Gy radiotherapy for patients with indolent lymphoma (FORT): a randomised phase 3 non-inferiority trial.
Follicular lymphoma has been shown to be highly radiosensitive with responses to doses as low as 4 Gy in two fractions. This trial was designed to explore the dose response for follicular lymphoma comparing 4 Gy in two fractions with 24 Gy in 12 fractions ⋯ Cancer Research UK.
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Extranodal lymphomas constitute a heterogeneous group of malignancies, accounting for roughly 60% of all non-Hodgkin lymphomas. The extranodal organ where lymphomas arise is an important determining factor of biological, molecular, and aetio-pathogenic features, and of presentation, dissemination pattern, and outcome. An increased risk of CNS involvement, an uncommon but lethal event, has been suggested in some extranodal lymphomas, but the absolute risk is still debatable for most of these malignancies. ⋯ The identification of extranodal lymphomas at increased risk of CNS dissemination is an important unmet clinical need; affected patients could benefit from early CNS assessment by neuroimaging and cerebrospinal fluid analysis and adequate CNS prophylaxis, avoiding unnecessary prophylaxis and related toxicity in low-risk patients. This Review discusses relevant confounding factors and identifies high-risk extranodal lymphomas analysing histopathological category, involved organ, and other specific risk factors, which could be helpful for result interpretation and patient stratification in future clinical trials. Finally, a recommendation is provided for CNS-directed management of high-risk extranodal lymphoma patients in daily practice.
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The lancet oncology · Apr 2014
A risk-management approach for effective integration of biomarkers in clinical trials: perspectives of an NCI, NCRI, and EORTC working group.
Clinical cancer research today often includes testing the value of biomarkers to direct treatment and for drug development. However, the practical challenges of integration of molecular information into clinical trial protocols are increasingly appreciated. Inherent difficulties include evidence gaps in available biomarker data, a paucity of robust assay methods, and the design of appropriate studies within the constraints of feasible trial operations, and finite resources. ⋯ Therefore, we assembled international experts from three clinical trials organisations to identify the common challenges and common solutions. We present a practical risk-assessment framework allowing targeting of scarce resources to crucial issues coupled with a library of useful resources and a simple actionable checklist of recommendations. We hope that these practical methods will be useful for running biomarker-driven trials and ultimately help to develop biomarkers that are ready for integration in routine practice.
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Cancer is one of the major non-communicable diseases posing a threat to world health. Unfortunately, improvements in socioeconomic conditions are usually associated with increased cancer incidence. In this Commission, we focus on China, India, and Russia, which share rapidly rising cancer incidence and have cancer mortality rates that are nearly twice as high as in the UK or the USA, vast geographies, growing economies, ageing populations, increasingly westernised lifestyles, relatively disenfranchised subpopulations, serious contamination of the environment, and uncontrolled cancer-causing communicable infections. We describe the overall state of health and cancer control in each country and additional specific issues for consideration: for China, access to care, contamination of the environment, and cancer fatalism and traditional medicine; for India, affordability of care, provision of adequate health personnel, and sociocultural barriers to cancer control; and for Russia, monitoring of the burden of cancer, societal attitudes towards cancer prevention, effects of inequitable treatment and access to medicine, and a need for improved international engagement.