The lancet oncology
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By use of modern immunological and molecular analytical techniques, cells with the characteristics of tumour cells can be detected in the blood of many patients with breast cancer. The ability to detect and characterise such cells routinely could have a profound influence on the early diagnosis of breast cancer, risk stratification in the adjuvant setting, early detection of relapse, and the development of new targeted strategies. In this review we discuss current techniques to detect circulating breast-cancer cells and the limitations of these approaches. We also review the clinical studies in breast cancer and discuss the potential relevance of this research to the future management of the disorder.
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Eukaryotic organisms depend on an intricate and evolutionary conserved cell cycle to control cell division. The cell cycle is regulated by a number of important protein families which are common targets for mutational inactivation or overexpression in human tumours. ⋯ A greater understanding of the cell cycle has led to the development of a number of compounds with the potential to restore control of cell division in human cancers. This review will introduce the protein families that regulate the cell cycle, their aberrations in malignant progression and pharmacological strategies targeting this important process.
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For patients diagnosed with early-stage testicular cancer radical orchidectomy is the primary therapeutic intervention. The major pathological types of testicular cancer are seminoma and non-seminomatous germ-cell cancer. After orchidectomy, most patients with seminoma receive adjuvant radiotherapy as standard of care, although surveillance and adjuvant chemotherapy protocols are being developed. ⋯ After orchidectomy, about 50% of patients with high-risk disease will relapse but this risk is reduced to less than 5% with adjuvant therapy. Surveillance of patients with low-risk disease is acceptable because testicular cancer is still curable if metastatic recurrence occurs. There is no consensus about the management of early non-seminomatous testicular cancer because survival is almost 100% irrespective of the initial treatment decision.