Survival of women with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia and liver metastases: is it improving?

Objective: To determine whether survival outcomes of women with liver metastases from gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) have improved from the previous finding of 27% at 5 years.

Study Design: The Charing Cross GTN database was searched for patients with liver metastases treated between 1975 and 2007. Prognostic variables were recorded and analyzed for effect on survival.

Choriocarcinoma in a postmenopausal woman.

Background: Choriocarcinoma typically occurs within 12 months of pregnancy but rarely may present many years after an antecedent pregnancy. This report describes choriocarcinoma in a postmenopausal woman.

Case: A 62-year-old woman presented with dyspnea, a history of postmenopausal vaginal spotting, and metastatic disease on chest X-ray.

Trastuzumab: unusual responses and toxicities.

Trastuzumab has become the standard of care in the management of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-overexpressing breast cancers, both in the metastatic and adjuvant setting. Emerging data show continued efficacy of the drug even after disease progression in combination with chemotherapy. While cardiotoxicity is well recognized with trastuzumab, unusual pulmonary toxicities are becoming apparent.

Immunotherapy for HIV-associated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The onset of the AIDS epidemic in 1981 was followed by descriptions of many opportunistic infections as well as several unusual cancers. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) was classified as an AIDS-defining illness within 4 years, and is up to 200 times more common in HIV-positive patients. Immunotherapy for cancer has a surprisingly long heritage, but it is only recently that this approach has become established in oncology practice.

A 2009 update on the treatment of patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

In up to 75% of breast cancers, estrogen receptor (ER) signaling is a key promoter of tumor proliferation, and inhibition of this pathway has clear therapeutic efficacy. The principal clinical means of inhibiting ER signaling comprise selective ER modulators, such as tamoxifen, that act as partial receptor agonists; measures to reduce the circulating level of estrogen, including ovarian ablation, gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues, and aromatase inhibition; and antagonism and downregulation of ER by the antiestrogen fulvestrant. Each of these therapies is effective in a proportion of ER-positive breast cancers, but de novo and acquired resistance remain significant problems.