New Federal Guidance Makes It Harder for Patients With Cancer to Access Drugs.

A recent interpretation of the Stark Law limits cancer practices from delivering drugs to their patients by mail or courier-a perverse interpretation of a law meant to curb physician self-referrals and one that has led to patient harm.

Phase IIb, Randomized, Double-Blind Trial of GC4419 Versus Placebo to Reduce Severe Oral Mucositis Due to Concurrent Radiotherapy and Cisplatin For Head and Neck Cancer.

Purpose: Oral mucositis (OM) remains a common, debilitating toxicity of radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck cancer. The goal of this phase IIb, multi-institutional, randomized, double-blind trial was to compare the efficacy and safety of GC4419, a superoxide dismutase mimetic, with placebo to reduce the duration, incidence, and severity of severe OM (SOM).

Patients And Methods: A total of 223 patients (from 44 institutions) with locally advanced oral cavity or oropharynx cancer planned to be treated with definitive or postoperative intensity-modulated RT (IMRT; 60 to 72 Gy [≥ 50 Gy to two or more oral sites]) plus cisplatin (weekly or every 3 weeks) were randomly assigned to receive 30 mg (n = 73) or 90 mg (n = 76) of GC4419 or to receive placebo (n = 74) by 60-minute intravenous administration before each IMRT fraction.

Comprehensive Chemical Characterization of Natural American Spirit Cigarettes.

Objectives: Marketing of the Natural American Spirit (NAS) cigarettes implies reduced risk of toxic exposures. We aimed to provide a comprehensive chemical characterization of these cigarettes.

Methods: We analyzed 13 varieties of NAS for a range of tobacco- and combustion-derived constituents.

Moving Toward Improved Teamwork in Cancer Care: The Role of Psychological Safety in Team Communication.

Effective communication is a requirement in the teamwork necessary for improved coordination to deliver patient-centered, value-based cancer care. Communication is particularly important when care providers are geographically distributed or work across organizations. We review organizational and teams research on communication to highlight psychological safety as a key determinant of high-quality communication within teams.

Centromere and kinetochore gene misexpression predicts cancer patient survival and response to radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Chromosomal instability (CIN) is a hallmark of cancer that contributes to tumour heterogeneity and other malignant properties. Aberrant centromere and kinetochore function causes CIN through chromosome missegregation, leading to aneuploidy, rearrangements and micronucleus formation. Here we develop a Centromere and kinetochore gene Expression Score (CES) signature that quantifies the centromere and kinetochore gene misexpression in cancers.

Arsenic and nicotine co-exposure lead to some synergistic effects on oxidative stress and apoptotic markers in young rat blood, liver, kidneys and brain.

Arsenic and nicotine exposure has been a major health concern globally. Individually both these toxicants increase the risk to various diseases including cancers. However, limited information exists on the co-exposure.

A large proliferating trichilemmal cyst masquerading as squamous cell carcinoma.

Proliferating trichilemmal cyst (PTC), a rare benign tumor, is a fascinating follicular neoplasm. It occurs on head and neck region of elderly women and its histologic hallmark is trichilemmal keratinization. A 70-year-old female presented to skin outpatient department with complaints of a slowly growing mass on scalp for the past 2 years.

The role of stereotactic body radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery in the re-irradiation of metastatic spinal tumors.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) are advanced radiotherapy delivery techniques that allow for the delivery of high-dose per fraction radiation. Advances in imaging technology and intensity modulation have allowed SRS and SBRT to be used for the treatment of tumors in close proximity to the spinal cord and cauda equina, in particular spinal metastases. While the initial treatment of spinal metastases is often conventional palliative radiotherapy, treatment failure is not uncommon, and conventional re-irradiation may not be feasible due to spinal cord tolerance.

Coexistence of giant cell fibroblastoma and encephalocele.

Giant cell fibroblastoma (GCF) is a rare soft tissue tumour that occurs almost exclusively in children younger than 10 years of age and is mostly located in the superficial soft tissues of the back and thighs. We present a rare case of GCF with encephalocele in a 1.5-year-old boy who presented with a swelling in the occipital area of the scalp since birth.

Primary bone lymphomas-Clinical cases and review of literature.

Primary bone lymphoma (PBL) is an uncommon clinical entity and a rare presentation of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. PBL accounts for less than 5% of malignant bone tumors, 4-5% of extra nodal lymphoma and less than 1% of all non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) accounts for the majority of cases of PBL.

Cholesterol granuloma of the breast mimicking malignancy.

Cholesterol granuloma of the breast is an unusual non-neoplastic condition which frequently resembles malignancy clinically as well as radiologically. We herein report a case of a 28-year-old woman who presented with a lump in the upper outer quadrant of right breast. Physical examination and ultrasonography strongly suggested a carcinomatous lesion, but histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis to be cholestrol granulomas.

Structural and thermodynamic insight into Escherichia coli UvrABC-mediated incision of cluster diacetylaminofluorene adducts on the NarI sequence.

Cluster DNA damage refers to two or more lesions in a single turn of the DNA helix. Such clustering may occur with bulky DNA lesions, which may be responsible for their sequence-dependent repair and mutational outcomes. Here we prepared three 16-mer cluster duplexes in which two fluoroacetylaminofluorene adducts (dG-FAAF) are separated by zero, one, and two nucleotides in the Escherichia coli NarI mutational hot spot (5'-CTCTCG1G2CG3CCATCAC-3'): 5'-CG1*G2*CG3CC-3', 5'-CG1G2*CG3*CC-3', and 5'-CG1*G2CG3*CC-3' (G* = dG-FAAF), respectively.

Ash-leaf spots or naevus depigmentosus: a diagnostic challenge.

Ash-leaf spots, a diagnostic manifestation of tuberous sclerosis complex, are sometimes difficult to differentiate from other hypopigmented lesions. Vitiligo, naevus anaemicus and naevus depigmentosus are important clinical differentials for ash-leaf spots. Among these naevus depigmentosus poses maximum difficulty because of clinical as well as histological similarities.

Dedifferentiated acinic cell tumour: the harlequin of salivary gland neoplasms--an unusual variant.

We present a case of a salivary gland tumour in a 25-year-old woman with lymphadenopathy and a clinical suspicion of lymphoma. The patient had a history of rapidly enlarging mass near angle of jaw which was resected and sent for histopathological examination. A final diagnosis of acinic cell tumour with dedifferentiation was made by histomorphological and immunohistochemical studies.

Cellular schwannoma masquerading as malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour: a diagnostic dilemma.

We present a case of a 15-year-old girl with a pulsatile, rapidly enlarging mass at the root of the nose suspected to be malignant. Excisional biopsy showed worrisome histological features; however, a final diagnosis of cellular schwannoma was reached excluding the possibility of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour by histological and immunohistochemical attributes. Cellular schwannoma, a pseudosarcomatous entity, is a rare benign neoplasm that may cause bone erosion and may be mistaken for a malignancy, clinically and histologically.

Cervicofacial actinomycosis mimicking sebaceous cyst.

Actinomycosis is a rare, torpid, suppurative and chronic granulomatous infection caused by a Gram-positive organism that was initially thought to be a fungus. These organisms normally live as commensals in the human oral cavity, respiratory and digestive tracts, but become invasive when they gain access to the subcutaneous tissue through a musosal lesion, the triggering events being dental caries, dental manipulation and maxillofacial trauma. It is often misdiagnosed as it can mimic numerous infectious and non-infectious diseases.

FNA diagnosis of malignant melanoma-recurrent and metastatic disease.

We present a case of a 60-year-old woman with multiple right axillary swellings. Patient had a history of lump with pigmentation over back for which she was operated upon. There was also a nodule over resected scar on back.

Sweet's syndrome as the presenting manifestation of gall bladder adenocarcinoma.

Sweet's syndrome is a neutrophilic inflammatory dermatosis presenting with sudden onset tender red to purple papules and nodules, fever and neutrophilia. Gastrointestinal and urinary tract infections, pregnancy, inflammatory bowel disease, drugs and malignancy are some of the known aetiological factors. Paraneoplastic Sweet's syndrome accounts for 15-20% cases and thus forms an important subset.

Dose related effects of nicotine on oxidative injury in young, adult and old rats.

Nicotine affects a variety of cellular process ranging from induction of gene expression to secretion of hormones and modulation of enzymatic activities. The objective of the present study was to study the dose dependent toxicity of nicotine on the oxidative stress in young, adult and old rats which were administered 0.75, 3 and 6 mg kg(-1) nicotine as nicotine hydrogen tartarate intraperitoneally for a period of seven days.

Influence of age on arsenic-induced oxidative stress in rat.

Influence of age on arsenic-induced (0.05, 0.1, and 0.

Adjuvant strategies for resectable pancreatic cancer: have we made progress?

Substantial controversy remains regarding the optimal adjuvant treatment for patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Despite improvements in radiation techniques, systemic therapies, and incorporation of targeted agents, the 5-year survival rates for early stage patients remains less than 25% and the optimal adjuvant treatment approach remains unclear. Here we summarize the data presented at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium regarding controversial issues surrounding the role, timing, and selection of patients for adjuvant chemoradiation strategies following curative resection for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Coexistent non-Hodgkins lymphoma and ductal carcinoma breast: diagnosis on fine needle aspiration cytology.

Synchronous occurrance of multiple neoplastic processes is not very common, and the relationship between breast cancer with lymphoproliferative diseases is unusual as well. Furthermore, breast involvement by non-Hodgkins lymphoma is a rare event and primary breast non-Hodgkins lymphoma is even rarer. The authors take this opportunity to report a case of primary B-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma breast occurring in association with invasive ductal carcinoma in a 47-year-old female for its rare synchronous association.

Fine-needle aspiration diagnosis of GIST: a diagnostic dilemma.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract. The authors take this opportunity to report two cases of GISTs of large bowel diagnosed on cytology and confirmed by histopathology and immunohistochemistry.

Ameloblastic carcinoma: a rare entity.

Ameloblastic carcinoma is a rare aggressive malignant epithelial odontogenic tumour seen in a wide range of age group with no sex predilection. Patient usually presents with a rapidly enlarging swelling. It usually involves the posterior portion of the mandible.