Table of contents
November 2006 Volume 3 No 11
Editorial
Viewpoint
Cancer in the developing world: can we avoid the disaster?
582Cancer incidence and mortality are expected to rise substantially in low-income countries. Franco Cavalli outlines how we should react to this threat, and gives guidance on preventive measures that can be tailored to different resource settings.
Research Highlights
Radiotherapy alone is suitable in older patients with early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma
584Gene expression profiles for renal cell carcinoma and renal regeneration show similarity
584Anastrozole preferred to tamoxifen for treatment of early-stage breast cancer
584Comparison of fluorouracil regimens after surgery for rectal cancer
585Comparing LTA with TH for the treatment of gastric cancer
585Micrometastases predict relapse and survival in high-risk breast cancer
586Correlation between physical activity, colorectal cancer and survival
586RT-PCR assay shows potential for detecting micrometastases in colorectal cancer
587CAD improves cancer detection in screening and diagnostic mammograms
587Local recurrence reduced in young women with DCIS treated with boost radiotherapy
588Gene-expression-based models: high concordance in outcome prediction for breast cancer
588Calculating the risk of toxicity for patients with advanced GIST treated with imatinib
589Practice Points
Can thalidomide improve outcome in patients with multiple myeloma?
590doi:10.1038/ncponc0630 | Full Text | PDF (100K)
Poor correlation between physician and patient assessment of quality of life in palliative care
592Rituximab and CHOP-like chemotherapy in good-prognosis diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma
594Can the utility of secondary cytoreduction for ovarian cancer be reliably established?
596Focusing on physical function limitations in elderly women surviving cancer: any opportunity for improvement?
598Does tumor mutational status correlate with clinical response to imatinib?
600doi:10.1038/ncponc0639 | Full Text | PDF (100K)
Reviews
Ovarian cancer: a focus on management of recurrent disease
604Surgery and chemotherapy form the cornerstone in the treatment of ovarian cancer. The standard of care for primary ovarian cancer is platinum and taxane-based chemotherapy. Despite the favorable response characteristics, however, most women with advanced-stage ovarian cancer will relapse. Herzog and Pothuri discuss the treatment options available and highlight the issues surrounding how these patients should be managed with surgical, chemotherapy, biological targeted agents and radiation therapy.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0637 | Full Text | PDF (162K)
Stress and breast cancer: a systematic update on the current knowledge
612It is unclear whether stressful life events, work-related stress, or perceived global stress are differentially associated with breast cancer incidence and breast cancer relapse in prospective studies. In this review systematic and explicit methods were used to identify, select, and critically appraise relevant studies. Despite the heterogeneity in the results obtained, the authors conclude that stress does not seem to increase the risk of breast cancer incidence but emphasize that larger studies on stress and breast cancer relapse are required to determine if stress affects the progression of breast cancer.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0652 | Full Text | PDF (196K)
Molecular classification of breast cancer: implications for selection of adjuvant chemotherapy
621Adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival for patients with early-stage disease but this benefit is not equal for all patients. Molecular characteristics of the cancer affect sensitivity to chemotherapy. In general, estrogen receptor (ER)-negative disease is more sensitive to chemotherapy than ER-positive tumors. Before any new molecular classification (or predictive test) is adopted for routine clinical use, however, several criteria need to be met. This review describes the current limitations and future promises of gene-expression-based molecular classification of breast cancer and how it might impact selection of adjuvant therapy for individual patients.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0636 | Full Text | PDF (314K)
Case Study
Interferon 
adenoviral gene therapy in a patient with ovarian cancer
633doi:10.1038/ncponc0658 | Full Text | PDF (362K)
