Table of contents
March 2008 Volume 5 No 3
Viewpoint
There's many a slip twixt cup and lip: adherence issues in cancer therapy
118Ensuring adherence to cancer treatment is as important to successful treatment as the development of new therapies. In this Viewpoint the author discusses the issues surrounding compliance to medical therapy and factors affecting patient behavior.
doi:10.1038/ncponc1043 | Full Text | PDF (122K)
Research Highlights
CT scans do not improve response assessment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia
120Gain of 1q predicts poor survival in patients with medulloblastoma
120Successful treatment of multifocal DCIS with breast-conserving surgery and radiotherapy
120Tissue-microarray study supports change to guidelines for assessment of HER2 expression
121Cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone as induction therapy for multiple myeloma
121Adjuvant radiotherapy benefits patients with early-stage pancreatic cancer
122Interferon treatment reduces incidence of malignant lymphoma in patients infected with HCV
122Early complete remission is a survival indicator in only a small subset of multiple myeloma cases
123Cell-cycle regulators might be useful diagnostic markers in differentiated thyroid cancer
123Panitumumab confers QoL benefits on patients with metastatic colorectal cancer
123Time to biochemical failure predicts distant metastases and prostate-cancer-specific mortality
124Early detection of cervical lesions by use of human papillomavirus DNA testing
124Biochemotherapy improves response rates but not survival in metastatic melanoma
125Practice Points
Are metastatic testicular tumors curable with high-dose chemotherapy and stem-cell rescue?
126doi:10.1038/ncponc1018 | Full Text | PDF (128K)
Cisplatin alone or in combination versus hydroxyurea during pelvic irradiation for cervical cancer
128doi:10.1038/ncponc1017 | Full Text | PDF (129K)
Are children with lesser-risk B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia curable with antimetabolite therapy?
130doi:10.1038/ncponc1035 | Full Text | PDF (134K)
Does combining docetaxel with cisplatin and fluorouracil improve clinical benefit in advanced gastroesophageal cancer?
132doi:10.1038/ncponc1044 | Full Text | PDF (130K)
The main site of origin for malignancies detected during risk-reducing surgery for ovarian cancer
134doi:10.1038/ncponc1040 | Full Text | PDF (122K)
Reviews
Advances in the systemic therapy of malignant pleural mesothelioma
136Major advances in the first-line therapy of inoperable malignant pleural mesothelioma have occurred in the past 5 years. This Review summarizes evidence supporting the clinical activity of chemotherapy, discusses the use of end points for its assessment, and the influence of clinical and biochemical prognostic factors on the natural history of malignant pleural mesothelioma.
doi:10.1038/ncponc1039 | Full Text | PDF (489K)
Clinical and pathologic aspects of basal-like breast cancers
149Basal-like breast cancers are associated with a poor disease-free and overall survival. The pathologic features of breast carcinomas classified by immunohistochemical and gene-expression profiling criteria are critically discussed. The authors emphasize that basal-like tumors display a spectrum of morphologic and clinical characteristics, and that the heterogenous nature of these tumors means the most prognostically relevant subsets have yet to be defined.
doi:10.1038/ncponc1038 | Full Text | PDF (245K)
Technology Insight: advances in molecular imaging and an appraisal of PET/CT scanning
160PET/CT imaging has rapidly emerged as an important imaging tool in oncology and provides multiple exciting new opportunities to integrate functional and morphological information for tumor staging, radiation treatment planning and monitoring of tumor response to therapy. In this Review, the authors discuss the technical features of PET/CT and its role in diagnosis, staging, restaging and treatment monitoring as well as radiation planning in cancer patients.
doi:10.1038/ncponc1041 | Full Text | PDF (886K)
Case Study
Placental-site trophoblastic tumors: a case of resistant pulmonary metastasis
171Placental-site trophoblastic tumors (PSTTs) are often resistant to chemotherapy and have a high incidence of lung metastasis. Cole et al. report the case of a 52-year-old woman who was diagnosed with metastatic chemoresistant PSTT. The patient was managed with abdominal hysterectomy, salpingo-oophrectomy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and thoracotomy with wedge resection. The authors discuss the treatment options for patients with PSTTs, especially for those with persistent metastatic disease.
doi:10.1038/ncponc1042 | Full Text | PDF (350K)
