Oncology
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The aim of this study was to validate the Korean version of the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI-K), a pain assessment tool that has been validated in several languages. ⋯ The BPI-K is a valid and useful instrument for assessing cancer pain and pain impact in Korea.
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Clinical Trial
A phase II study of three-weekly docetaxel and weekly trastuzumab in HER2-overexpressing advanced breast cancer.
To test safety and activity of 3-weekly doses of docetaxel and a weekly dose of trastuzumab in women with HER2-overexpressing advanced breast cancer. ⋯ Three-weekly doses of docetaxel and a weekly dose of trastuzumab is an active and safe combination in patients with HER2-overexpressing advanced breast cancer.
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Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) has shown promising activity in the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer but skin toxicity remains the dose-limiting toxicity of the drug. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a different treatment schedule may improve the toxicity profile, especially in terms of dermatological and mucosal toxicity. ⋯ PLD at the dose of 35 mg/m2 q21 seems to translate into an acceptable skin toxicity profile with a response rate comparable to others obtained with a standard schedule.
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Adjuvant hormone treatment with radiotherapy has been demonstrated in two studies (Bolla and RTOG 8531) to be beneficial in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer. However, the vast majority of patients with early prostate cancer can be cured with radiotherapy alone. Subset analysis combining RTOG 8610 and RTOG 8531 has demonstrated a survival benefit only for patients with a biopsy Gleason score < or =6 after short-term neoadjuvant hormonal therapy. The results of ongoing research will further clarify the use of hormone treatment with radiotherapy in patients with low and intermediate risk.
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Gemcitabine is an antimetabolite drug with proven antitumor activity and tolerability in metastatic breast cancer. In a total of nine studies, gemcitabine monotherapy has reached response rates of up to 37% in the first-line setting, 26% in the second-line setting, and 18% or better in the third-line setting. Gemcitabine is an excellent choice for combination therapy by its unique mechanism of action and favorable toxicity profile, thus limiting the risk of pretreatment-related drug resistance and overlapping toxicity, and by its potential for synergistic interaction with some combination partners as indicated in preclinical studies. ⋯ Most of these two-drug combinations have consistently demonstrated higher efficacy than either single agent, particularly in pretreated patients. Even higher efficacy has been obtained with triple-drug regimens including gemcitabine, anthracyclines (epirubicin or doxorubicin), and paclitaxel; these regimens have yielded overall response rates of 58-92% as first-line treatment. In view of these results, gemcitabine may be regarded as a valuable alternative to the palliative treatment of metastatic breast cancer, and an excellent option for the development of effective combination treatment not only in first-line therapy, but also for intensively pretreated patients previously exposed to anthracyclines and/or the taxanes.