Health-Related Quality of Life Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer: Results From a Prospective, Real-World Data Study With Brazilian Patients Treated With Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, Conformal and Conventional Radiation Techniques.

Purpose: To compare global health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and overall survival (OS) in patients with head and neck cancer treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT) or conventional radiation therapy (2DRT).

Methods And Materials: In this real-world, multi-institutional and prospective study, HRQoL outcomes were assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-life Questionnaire Head and Neck 43 (H&N43) questionnaires. Item response theory was used to generate a global HRQoL score, based on the 71 questions from both forms.

Outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma patients undergoing sorafenib treatment: toxicities, cellular oxidative stress, treatment adherence, and quality of life.

The study of toxicities induced by sorafenib, as well as the identification of possible mechanisms and biomarkers of these toxicities, is important to improve the treatment and quality of life of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. This study focused on toxicities, cellular oxidative stress, adherence, and quality of life of 11 patients with HCC treated with sorafenib. Dermatotoxicity, myelotoxicity, gastro toxicity, nephrotoxicity, pain, and fatigue were investigated.

Dose-dense chemotherapy versus conventional chemotherapy for early breast cancer: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Background: Despite the widespread acceptance of dose-dense (DD) regimens as adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer (EBC), studies of efficacy offer contradictory findings. This systematic review evaluates the real impact of DD chemotherapy.

Methods: Randomized controlled trials comparing conventional adjuvant chemotherapy versus a DD regimen for EBC patients were searched in electronic databases.

Correlation between thymidylate synthase protein expression and gene polymorphism with clinicopathological parameters in colorectal carcinoma.

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) represents the basis of chemotherapy for colorectal carcinoma, inhibiting thymidylate synthase (TS), an essential enzyme for DNA replication. Previous studies have associated high TS protein expression by tumor cells with poor outcome of patients with colorectal carcinoma, but others have refuted these findings. In view of the potential role of TS as predictive parameter and the lack of consensus in the literature, the present study compared 2 methods: protein expression and gene polymorphism, correlating them with clinicopathological findings.

Immunological effects of interferon-alpha on chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Treatment with interferon-alpha is effective for chronic myelogenous leukemia in the chronic phase (CML-CP), but the immunological mechanisms of the antileukemic effect of this substance are still unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the immunological effects of interferon-alpha in CML patients. Markers of cellular activation and apoptosis, natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity and production of intracellular cytokines (IFN-gamma, IL-2 and IL-4) were determined by flow cytometry in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 26 CML-CP patients before and 3, 6 and 9 months after IFN-alpha treatment.