Table of contents
October 2005 Volume 2 No 10
Editorial
Viewpoints
Clinical practice guidelines and healthcare decisions: credibility gaps and unfulfilled promises?
480The best practice for use of oncology guidelines is discussed in this Viewpoint article. Clinical practice guidelines should not be used as cost-savings devices, but as tools for ensuring the best care of each individual patient. Guidelines should be accessible, flexible and allow participation of those intended to use them.
How to judge a tumor marker
482Evaluating the prognostic value of a tumor marker is an important component of oncology research and has an important impact on treatment decisions. The authors discuss whether the usual statistical approach used to assess prognostic markers can enhance predictive accuracy, and they describe the merits of a more direct approach.
Research Highlights
Links between ERK phosphorylation status and response to breast cancer treatment
484Magic roundabout protein: a possible prognostic indicator in patients with NSCLC
484Tumor COX2 expression does not affect colorectal cancer survival
485IL-2 with radiotherapy: an effective treatment for late-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma
486Radiation enteritis should be routinely investigated by a gastroenterologist
486Elevated carcinoembryonic antigen levels are linked to gefitinib sensitivity
487Link between statin use and improved response to neoadjuvant therapy in rectal cancer
487Childhood radiotherapy and thyroid cancer: lower risk at very high radiation doses
487Optimal low-dose metronomic chemotherapy and antiangiogenic activity
489Practice Points
Should patients with malignancy receive chemoprophylaxis against Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia?
490Should resection of colorectal cancer be performed with laparoscopic assistance?
492Is sentinel node status predictive of overall survival in patients with melanoma?
494To what extent do cancer patients use complementary and alternative medicine?
496Do biomarker changes during neoadjuvant endocrine therapy reflect breast tumor receptor status?
498Is rituximab effective as a single agent in mantle-cell lymphoma?
500Reviews
Clinical use of markers of bone turnover in metastatic bone disease
504Biochemical markers of bone turnover are considered useful in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with malignant bone disease. Although many markers of bone turnover are elevated in patients with established bone metastases, available evidence does not allow any final conclusions to be made regarding the accuracy and validity of these markers for early diagnosis. The diagnostic and prognostic value of bone markers for clinical outcome when used in combination with new diagnostic techniques could pave the way for improvements of clinical assessment, as discussed in this review.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0320 | Full Text | PDF (593K)
Cancer chemoprevention: scientific promise, clinical uncertainty
518The development of new drugs that are both safe and effective is paramount for the future of cancer chemoprevention. Sporn and Liby critically discuss the issues that have hampered the advances of chemoprevention in the oncology field, and emphasize the need for discovery of new targets and chemopreventive agents, offering new insights into how new approaches tested in the scientific setting could be introduced in clinical practice.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0319 | Full Text | PDF (190K)
Technology Insight: PET and PET/CT in head and neck tumor staging and radiation therapy planning
526The treatment of head and neck cancer requires a multidisciplinary approach, and positron emission tomography/CT is a rapidly evolving technique that is profoundly altering the staging, radiation treatment planning and clinical management decisions for this disease. Frank et al. discuss the use of PET/CT for staging and detecting both primary or recurrent head and neck cancer and its applications in radiotherapy treatment planning.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0322 | Full Text | PDF (541K)
