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Active surveillance for favorable-risk prostate cancer has become increasingly popular in populations in which prostate cancer screening is widespread because of evidence that screening results in the detection of disease that is not clinically significant in many patients. This Review discusses the results of active surveillance, the criteria for patient selection and the appropriate thresholds for intervention.
Patients with primary plasma-cell leukemia (PCL) are usually treated with regimens used for multiple myeloma because no official guidelines exist for the treatment of PCL. Ballanti et al. discuss the case of a 68-year-old man with primary PCL who developed sustained ventricular tachycardia that was thought to be caused by thalidomide. The authors emphasize the need for complete cardiac evaluation and clinical monitoring of patients undergoing thalidomide treatment.
Primary tumor removal is usually considered as intrinsically beneficial, but this can perturb metastatic homeostasis and, for some patients, results in the acceleration of metastatic cancer. This Review analyzes the recent evolution of two paradigms related to the development of breast cancer metastases, and discusses the limitations of these paradigms in terms of how they explain breast cancer recurrence dynamics for patients undergoing surgery with or without adjuvant chemotherapy.
The pathogenic relationship between bisphosphonates and osteonecrosis of the jaw is unclear, but there is evidence to indicate an association between high-dose bisphosphonate treatment and exposure to dental infections and oral surgical procedures. The authors of this Review highlight that a better knowledge of the interactions between these agents and of the jaw and maxillary bone biology will improve clinical and therapeutic approaches to osteonecrosis of the jaw.
The incidence of the skin malignancy, melanoma, is increasing and it often becomes refractory to common therapies after metastasis. In this Viewpoint the author discusses different therapeutic approaches for metastatic melanoma.
The immunosuppressive impact of melanoma upon the human body is now beginning to be understood and interferon α2b at high dosage is critical to the reversal of signaling defects in the T cells of melanoma patients. The authors of this Viewpoint discuss the use of high dose interferon α2b in patients with high risk melanoma.