Comparison of the health and functional status between older inpatients with and without cancer admitted to a geriatric/internal medicine unit.

Background: Cancer is predominantly a disease in the population aged 65 years and older. Previous studies have suggested that older cancers patients seen in oncology departments are healthy with few comorbidities. Relatively little is known about the health and functional status of older cancer inpatients, especially outside oncology units.

The benefit of induction chemotherapy in patients age > or = 75 years.

Background: Patients age > or = 75 years with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) generally are offered palliative treatments instead of induction chemotherapy. The authors conducted a retrospective study comparing the outcomes among these elderly patients with the outcomes among younger patients to assess the impact of intensive treatment approaches in this age group.

Methods: One hundred ten consecutive patients age > or = 75 years with newly diagnosed AML (excluding patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia) were treated in the authors' center over 10 years.

Nurses' repeat measurement of chemotherapy symptoms: feasibility, resulting information, patient satisfaction.

The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a repeated measurement of 5 major side effects (pain, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, and fatigue) experienced by patients during an entire course of chemotherapy. Forty-nine inpatients receiving intravenous chemotherapy in the Medical Oncology Department of the Institut Paoli-Calmettes (Marseilles, France) were included in the study. At the study entry and every 12 hours from beginning of chemotherapy course, nurses assessed symptoms using Visual Analogic Scales (except for vomiting measured in number of episodes).

Immunophenotypic analysis of inflammatory breast cancers: identification of an 'inflammatory signature'.

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare but very aggressive form of breast cancer. Its definition is based on clinical criteria, but a molecular definition could be useful when data are incomplete or features are missing. Recently, the identification of overexpression of E-cadherin in IBC has improved understanding of the molecular basis of this disease.

Gene expression profiling of breast carcinomas using nylon DNA arrays.

Clinically very heterogeneous, breast cancer prognosis and treatment response are difficult to predict with the current prognostic histoclinical parameters. Mammary oncogenesis remains poorly understood. DNA array technology allows the simultaneous analysis of the mRNA expression levels of thousands of genes in biological samples.

Reduced-intensity preparative regimen and allogeneic stem cell transplantation for advanced solid tumors.

In this prospective multicenter program, we investigated allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) from HLA-identical siblings following reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen for patients with refractory metastatic solid tumors (STs). Fifty-seven patients, of whom 39 had a progressive disease (PD) at time of ASCT, received an RIC ASCT combining fludarabine, antithymocyte globulin (ATG), and busulfan. Patients were analyzed in terms of engraftment, transplant-related mortality (TRM), disease response, and outcome.

Radiotherapy and immediate two-stage breast reconstruction with a tissue expander and implant: complications and esthetic results.

Purpose: To report complications, failure rate, and esthetic results in patients undergoing immediate breast reconstruction with a tissue expander and implant, with or without adjuvant treatment.

Methods And Materials: We reviewed the records of the 77 patients who underwent immediate breast reconstruction with an expander/implant between January 1999 and December 2000. Complications were assessed using the Common Toxicity Criteria, version 2, scale.

[Anemia and chemotherapy of malignant hemopathies].

Anemia is a frequent symptom encountered in hematological malignancies at diagnosis or in the course of the disease. Allogeneic transfusions were, until recently, the only treatment available and used only for severe anemia. Erythropoietin is currently an important alternative especially for treatment and even to prevent severe anemia.

Direct treatment costs for patients with lung cancer from first recurrence to death in france.

Objective: To determine the direct treatment cost of lung cancer management from progression to death from the viewpoint of the hospital.

Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was performed. Data from 100 patients who died of lung cancer and who had received treatment from four different types of hospital were used; the hospitals were public hospitals (teaching and non-teaching), private not-for-profit cancer centres, and private hospitals.

Retinoids, cisplatin and interferon-alpha in recurrent or metastatic cervical squamous cell carcinoma: clinical results of 2 phase II trials.

Background: There is no standard treatment for inoperable recurrent or metastatic cancer of the uterine cervix. Retinoids and interferon, in combination with cytotoxic compounds, have been shown to be active in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). This phase II trial sought to estimate the response rate and the tolerance to a 3-month treatment combining cisplatin, interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) and all-trans-retinoic (tRA) or 13 cis retinoic acid (13Cis), in women with recurrent or metastatic cervical SCC.