Table of contents
November 2004 Volume 1 No 1
Viewpoints
The impact of epidermal-growth-factor-receptor mutations in response to lung-cancer therapy
2Non-small-cell lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the US despite advances in therapy. The epidermal-growth-factor receptor has been investigated as a target for therapy using EGFR-specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors. This Viewpoint discusses the implications of the correlation of positive responses seen in patients harboring EGFR mutations.
When is a genomic classifier ready for prime time?
4Gene-expression profiles are now being used as classifiers of patients' prognosis and response to therapy but the development of classifiers is subject to many pitfalls. This Viewpoint discusses ways to improve development, stressing the importance of internal and external validation.
Practice Points
Can combined whole brain radiation therapy and radiosurgery improve the treatment of single brain metastases?
12Does concurrent postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy in head and neck cancer improve patient outcome?
14Can dexrazoxane reduce myocardial injury in anthracycline-treated children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia?
16Are symptoms reliable as an indication for the necessity of bone scans in lung cancer metastases?
18Is fulvestrant more effective than tamoxifen for treating ER-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women?
20Can EPO reduce blood transfusion requirements during induction therapy for high-risk neuroblastoma?
22Reviews
Long-term survivors of childhood cancers: what knowledge have we gained?
26Survivors of childhood cancers are at an increased risk of adverse heath outcomes. Large-scale studies of mortality of cancer survivors beyond 5 years demonstrate that the majority of deaths are caused by recurrent tumors, second malignant neoplasms, cardiac and pulmonary deaths. This comprehensive review quantifies progress achieved in childhood cancer as well as the long term-side-effects of therapies.
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation: the next generation of therapy for metastatic renal cell cancer
32With less than 10% of patients with metastatic renal cell cancer (RCC) surviving beyond 5 years, the management of this disease remains a therapeutic challenge. Conventional immune-based treatments are moderately successful, but complete disease remission has been observed using allogeneic stem-cell transplantation. Newer innovative approaches to maximize the graft-versus-tumor effect using this approach show promise in treating RCC.
Targeting angiogenesis in cancer: clinical development of bevacizumab
39Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEFG) stimulates tumor-associated angiogenesis, thereby making it a prime target for the development of anti-VEGF compounds. One such anti-VEGF drug, bevacizumab, has improved survival rates in some cancer trials. The key clinical trial data and reasons for some of the contrasting results seen in different patient studies are discussed.
Technology Insight: emerging techniques to predict response to preoperative chemotherapy in breast cancer
44The molecular revolution has paved the way for the development of diagnostic technologies and predictors of response to treatment. This review describes how gene expression profiling using DNA microarrays are emerging as diagnostic tool, and advances in the application of gene expression profiling can help predict response to chemotherapy in breast cancer.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0025 | Full Text | PDF (167K)
Case Study
Axillary swelling and a reduced general condition in a middle-aged man
51A 48-year-old man presented to his GP with an indolent swelling in his left axillary region. He had also increasingly suffered from night-time sweating and fever. Physical examination and an ultrasound revealed an enlarged lymph node in the left axillary region. The patient was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and treated with chemotherapy and involved-field radiotherapy.
