Is mastectomy superior to breast-conserving treatment for young women?

Purpose: To examine whether modified radical mastectomy (MRM) improves outcomes compared with breast-conserving treatment (BCT) in young women.

Methods And Materials: Women aged 20-49 years, diagnosed with early breast cancer between 1989 and 1998, were identified. Management with BCT or MRM was compared for local (L), locoregional (LR), and distant relapse-free survival (DRFS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) by age group (20-39 years, 40-49 years).

Impact on survival of time from definitive surgery to initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer.

Purpose: To determine if time to start of adjuvant chemotherapy after curative surgery influences survival in early-stage breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of 2,594 patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for stage I and II breast cancer between 1989 and 1998 at the British Columbia Cancer Agency. Relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared among patients grouped by time from definitive curative surgery to start of adjuvant chemotherapy (< or = 4 weeks, > 4 to 8 weeks, > 8 to 12 weeks, and >12 to 24 weeks).

Relationship between delay in radiotherapy and biochemical control in prostate cancer.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a delay in radiotherapy is associated with a poorer biochemical control for prostate cancer.

Methods: The time to treatment (TTT) from diagnosis of prostate cancer to radiotherapy was analyzed with respect to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) control in 1024 hormone-naive patients. The Kaplan-Meier PSA control curves for patients with TTT less than the median were compared with those for patients with TTT greater than the median in 3 predefined risk groups.

Hemoglobin levels do not predict biochemical outcome for localized prostate cancer treated with neoadjuvant androgen-suppression therapy and external-beam radiotherapy.

Purpose: To investigate whether hemoglobin (Hb) levels affect outcome in men with localized prostate adenocarcinoma (LPA) treated with neoadjuvant androgen-suppression therapy (NAST) and external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT).

Methods And Materials: A total of 563 men with LPA treated with NAST (median: 5.3 months) and EBRT who had Hb levels during treatment were retrospectively reviewed.

Favorable outcome of primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma in a single institution: the British Columbia experience.

Background: Primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) is a distinct clinico-pathological subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The optimal treatment is unknown, with some studies suggesting a superior outcome with dose-intensive chemotherapy regimens, and the role of radiotherapy remains ill-defined.

Patients And Methods: The British Columbia Cancer Agency lymphoma database was searched and records reviewed to identify those patients presenting with a prominent mediastinal mass and considered to be PMBCL based on the current REAL/WHO classifications.