Treatment of soft tissue sarcoma: a European approach.

This article discusses the treatment of adult soft tissue sarcoma (excluding gastrointestinal stromal tumor), analyzing the principles underlying treatment and the results of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. The focus is on the European approach in particular, and ongoing studies are summarized.

Italian general practitioners and smoking cessation strategies.

Aims And Background: General practitioners (GPs) are in a key position to intervene with patients who smoke. The cornerstone of a smoking cessation strategy should be the routine provision of brief advice and follow-up in primary care. However, it seems GPs do not often take action against smoking, at least in Italy as shown by previous reports.

Concomitant chemo-radiotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced and/or metastatic soft tissue sarcomas: experience of the National Cancer Institute of Genoa.

Previous in vitro and in vivo studies showed a synergistic effect of concomitant doxorubicin and radiotherapy in a variety of solid tumors. From 1988 to 2000, we have investigated in a pilot study and then in a phase II study the efficacy of a concomitant doxorubicin radiotherapy treatment in patients with advanced and/or metastatic soft tissue sarcomas (STS). We enrolled and treated a group of 115 patients with advanced STS, with metastases (61%), frequently pretreated (59%), predominantly G2/G3 (84%).

Improved survival with perilymphatic interleukin 2 in patients with resectable squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx.

Background: The current randomized, multicenter, Phase III trial was conducted to determine whether the disease free interval and overall survival of patients with T2-T4,N0-N3,M0 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity or oropharynx could be extended through the combination of surgery (and radiotherapy, if required) with perilymphatic recombinant IL-2 (rIL-2).

Methods: Patients with a resectable T2-T4,N0-N3,M0 SCC of the oral cavity and oropharynx were assigned randomly to receive surgery and radiotherapy or to receive IL-2, surgery, and radiotherapy. Five thousand units of rIL-2 were injected around the ipsilateral cervical lymph node chain daily for 10 days before surgery.