Are breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy younger now than ten years ago?

Aim: The aim of the present study was to analyze the age of breast cancer patients managed with curative approach at the time of treatment with radiotherapy.

Background: Breast cancer is the most frequent neoplasm in women. Little is known with regard to the age of patients at diagnosis, and some authors have suggested that breast cancer is now affecting women who are younger than before.

Biweekly cetuximab in combination with FOLFOX-4 in the first-line treatment of wild-type KRAS metastatic colorectal cancer: final results of a phase II, open-label, clinical trial (OPTIMIX-ACROSS Study).

Background: This phase II study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of biweekly cetuximab in combination with oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and fluorouracil (FOLFOX-4) as first-line treatment of metastatic wild-type KRAS colorectal cancer.

Methods: Previously untreated patients with wild-type KRAS tumours received biweekly cetuximab (500 mg/m2 on day 1) plus FOLFOX-4 (oxaliplatin 85 mg/m2 on day 1, leucovorin 200 mg/m2 on days 1 and 2, and fluorouracil as a 400 mg/m2 bolus followed by a 22-hour 600 mg/m2 infusion on day 1 and 2). Treatment was continued until disease progression, onset of unacceptable toxicities, metastases surgery, or discontinuation request.

Genetic testing in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer using massive parallel sequencing.

High throughput methods such as next generation sequencing are increasingly used in molecular diagnosis. The aim of this study was to develop a workflow for the detection of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations using massive parallel sequencing in a 454 GS Junior bench top sequencer. Our approach was first validated in a panel of 23 patients containing 62 unique variants that had been previously Sanger sequenced.

microRNA expression profile in stage III colorectal cancer: circulating miR-18a and miR-29a as promising biomarkers.

Biomarkers that can facilitate disease detection, staging and prediction of outcome are highly desirable to improve survival and to help determine optimized treatment for colorectal cancer patients. microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that play a crucial role in gene regulatory networks. The deregulation of miRNA expression has been found in several types of cancer and may represent a novel class of cancer biomarkers.

Adapted ice cream as a nutritional supplement in cancer patients: impact on quality of life and nutritional status.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of adapted ice cream as a dietary supplement on the quality of life (QLQ) of malnourished patients with cancer.

Material And Methods: We present an exploratory prospective observational study comparing two patterns of nutrition in cancer patients admitted during the study period who presented malnutrition disorders: adapted ice cream (Group I: 39 patients) and nutritional supplements (Group II: 31 patients). Patients were selected from two different hospitals from the same Oncologic Institute.

The changing pattern of non-small cell lung cancer between the 90 and 2000 decades.

Background: In Europe, approximately 381,500 patients are diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) every year. The aim of this study is to analyse the changes in diagnosis, treatment and evolution during the last two decades, using data from a hospital registry.

Material And Methods: Patients diagnosed with NSCLC at the Corporació Sanitària Parc Taulí-Sabadell (Catalonia, Spain) during the periods 1990-1997 (n=748) and 2003-2005 (n=311) were included.

Analysis of the pathologic response to primary chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced breast cancer grouped according to estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2 status.

Purpose: In clinical practice, it is possible to classify breast tumors according to estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), and HER2 overexpression: ER negative, PgR negative, and HER2 overexpressing; ER negative, PgR negative, and HER2 negative; ER positive, PgR positive, and HER2 negative; ER positive, PgR positive, and HER2 overexpressing; and the less frequent remaining 4 combinations. The aim of this study was to determine the percentage of pathologic complete response (pCR) in patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) treated with neoadjuvant or primary chemotherapy with anthracyclines and taxanes grouped according to ER, PgR, and HER2 status.

Patients And Methods: Patients with LABC treated with primary chemotherapy including anthracyclines and taxanes were grouped according to ER, PgR, and HER2 status; pCR rates were analyzed using the chi(2) test; and correlations with a P value of < or = 0.

Randomised study of tegafur and oral leucovorin versus intravenous 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

This randomised, open-label trial compared oral tegafur (FT)/leucovorin (LV) with the intravenous bolus 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)/LV as first-line chemotherapy for advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). Patients were randomised to receive oral FT 750 mg/m2/day for 21 days and LV 15 mg/m2 every 8 h in cycles repeated every 28 days (n=114), or intravenous LV 20 mg/m2 followed by 5-FU 425 mg/m2 daily for 5 days every 4 weeks for 2 cycles, and later every 5 weeks (n=123). Response rate was significantly higher in the FT/LV arm (27%, 95% CI 19-35) than in the 5-FU/LV arm (13%, 95% CI 7-19) (p<0.

Phase II study of irinotecan (CPT-11) administered every 2 weeks as treatment for patients with colorectal cancer resistant to previous treatment with 5-fluorouracil-based therapies: comparison of two different dose schedules (250 and 200 mg/m2) according to toxicity prognostic factors.

Our objective was to assess the antitumoral activity and toxicity of irinotecan (CPT-11) 60-min i.v. infusion every 2 weeks as second-line monotherapy of advanced colorectal cancer.