Table of contents
October 2006 Volume 3 No 10
Editorial
Viewpoint
The conundrum of fluoroquinolone prophylaxis
524The dilemma for those managing patients with cancer and neutropenia is whether the potential benefit of fluoroquinolones outweigh their disadvantages—drug resistance, toxicity and cost. The authors of this Viewpoint re-examine the question of who (if anyone) should receive fluoroquinolone prophylaxis.
Research Highlights
Dasatinib and nilotinib: effective alternatives to imatinib in CML and Ph-ALL?
526Oophorectomy reduces risk of ovarian cancer in BRCA mutation carriers by 80%
526Circulating tumor cell levels can predict survival in metastatic breast cancer
527PET is predictive of outcome in patients with Hodgkin's disease
527doi:10.1038/ncponc0596 | Full Text | PDF (100K)
The relationship between H. pylori infection and gastric cancer
528Microarray approach identifies genes potentially involved in prostate cancer progression
528Raloxifene reduces breast cancer, but not cardiovascular, risk in women
529Model identifies DNA mismatch-repair mutations in patients with colorectal cancer
529Close or positive margins in breast-conserving surgery: is re-excision always necessary?
529FDG-PET: a powerful predictor of survival following chemotherapy in advanced breast cancer
530Continued proliferation despite letrozole or tamoxifen in HER2-positive breast cancer
530Perioperative chemotherapy prolongs survival in resectable gastric cancer
531Practice Points
Can ovarian function be protected in young women receiving chemotherapy?
532doi:10.1038/ncponc0592 | Full Text | PDF (100K)
Can prostate-specific antigen nadir predict prostate cancer outcomes following radiotherapy?
534Paclitaxel and carboplatin versus mitoxantrone: lessons of an underpowered study
536Gene expression profiling for individualized breast cancer chemotherapy: success or not?
538doi:10.1038/ncponc0631 | Full Text | PDF (100K)
Reviews
Gene signature evaluation as a prognostic tool: challenges in the design of the MINDACT trial
540The development of the 70-gene prognosis signature for breast cancer was evaluated in the MINDACT (Microarray In Node negative Disease may Avoid ChemoTherapy) trial to assess the clinical relevance of the 70-gene prognosis signature, and how this compares with traditional prognostic factors for assigning adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with node-negative breast cancer. This review outlines the background work and rationale behind the final design of the MINDACT trial and how these considerations can help to optimize future trials and aim to improve individualization of cancer therapy.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0591 | Full Text | PDF (253K)
Therapy Insight: parenteral estrogen treatment for prostate cancer—a new dawn for an old therapy
552Owing to cardiovascular and thromboembolic toxicities, oral estrogens were abandoned as treatments for prostate carcinoma; however, it is now recognized much of this toxicity can be avoided by parenteral (intramuscular or transdermal) estrogen administration. Ockrim and coauthors highlight the cost and protective andropause advantages of estrogen therapy, advocating a re-evaluation of this promising, but forgotten therapy.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0602 | Full Text | PDF (276K)
Mechanisms of Disease: cancer targeting and the impact of oncogenic RET for medullary thyroid carcinoma therapy
564The established role of the RET proto-oncogene in the development of medullary thyroid carcinoma makes this gene an attractive target for selective cancer therapy. The current evidence of RET involvement in the etiology of medullary thyroid carcinoma, and the therapeutic targeting of this process in preclinical and clinical studies are discussed, and the authors propose why targeting the RET proto-oncogene with small-molecule drugs is very likely to be successful in clinical applications.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0610 | Full Text | PDF (347K)
Case Study
Rhabdomyosarcoma, Wilms tumor, and deletion of the patched gene in Gorlin syndrome
575doi:10.1038/ncponc0608 | Full Text | PDF (620K)
