Survival and Toxicity Following Chemoradiation for Carcinoma of the Cervix - Impact of Multiple-phase Treatment and Shielding.

Aim: We report on outcomes and significant grade 3-4 late toxicities between January 1999 and October 2006 following introduction of multi-phase treatment and effect of shielding in treatment of cervical cancer with concurrent chemoradiation.

Patients And Methods: Radiotherapy dose by phase, recurrence, survival and toxicity data was collated by a retrospective review of clinical notes. Shielding information was retrieved from original planning films.

Chemotherapy for Uterine Carcinosarcoma with Carboplatin, Ifosfamide and Mesna.

Background/aim: Uterine carcinosarcomas (UCSs) are highly aggressive, rare, biphasic tumors composed of epithelial and mesenchymal elements. Surgery remains the mainstay of treatment in early-stage disease. Adjuvant pelvic radiotherapy improves locoregional control without proven overall survival (OS) benefit.

Chemotherapy for advanced endometrial cancer with carboplatin and epirubicin.

Unlabelled: Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecological cancer in the Western world. In early-stage disease, surgery remains the mainstay of treatment. Adjuvant pelvic radiotherapy reduces the risk of pelvic recurrence, however, without improvement in overall survival.

Unilateral onycholysis in a patient taking erlotinib (Tarceva).

Targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mediated signalling pathways has become routine practice in the treatment of lung cancer. Erlotinib is an oral EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, licensed for maintenance monotherapy treatment in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer after first-line chemotherapy. The authors present the case of a 51-year-old patient who had an excellent response to erlotinib, but developed unilateral onycholysis as an unusual side effect.

The role of somatostatin analogues in the treatment of advanced malignant thymomas: case report and review of the literature.

Thymomas are the most common tumours of the anterior mediastinum; their clinical course is often complicated by accompanying autoimmune and paraneoplastic syndromes. Advanced malignant thymoma is particularly challenging to manage owing to the lack of evidence from randomised trials to guide treatment. Combination first-line chemotherapy has been trialled in several small studies and has been reported to produce a 50-80% response with platinum-containing regimes.