Volume 5 Issue 1, January 2008

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.

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.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy is standard care for intermediate thickness melanoma despite a lack of evidence of its impact on survival. Late-stage disease is frequently wrongly predicted, leading to unnecessary treatments. These issues are discussed here and the author recommends ultrasound-based surveillance after wide excision of the primary tumor for patients assigned false-positive prognoses.

Cervical cancer is a major cause of cancer mortality and is initiated by infection with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs). An improved understanding of the virologic basis for this disease will help with prevention and treatment. This Review summarizes the main events of the HPV life cycle, the functions of the viral proteins, and the implications of HPV infection on their hosts, with an emphasis on carcinogenic mechanisms and disease outcomes in cervical and head-and-neck cancer.

A large number of trials have improved antiemetic therapy and made evidence-based recommendations possible for the majority of patients receiving chemotherapy. This Review discusses the pathophysiology of nausea and vomiting, the development of antiemetics, highlights some of the newest antiemetics, and finally summarizes recommendations from the evidence-based guidelines developed by the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer.

Molecular imaging can stratify patients according to presence or absence of a drug target, and can distinguish between drug responders and nonresponders. The authors of this Review discuss the integration of molecular imaging in drug development and how this technology can address key questions in the preclinical and clinical evaluation of new targeted drugs.

Urachal adenocarcinomas are rare primary adenocarcinomas of the bladder for which there is no current chemotherapy regimen. Mohile and co-authors report the case of a 67-year-old woman who was diagnosed with metastatic urachal adenocarcinoma and achieved complete remission of the disease after irinotecan, 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin therapy. The authors discuss the current management options for patients with urachal adenocarcinomas and emphasize the need to evaluate the role of newly discovered agents in the treatment of this disease.