Radiotherapy after skin-sparing mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction in intermediate-risk breast cancer : Indication and technical considerations.

Background: Skin-sparing (SSME) and nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSME) were developed to improve the cosmetic results for breast cancer (BC) patients, both allowing for immediate breast reconstruction. Recommendations for post-mastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) are primarily derived from trials where patients were treated by standard mastectomies. Due to their more conservative character, SSME and especially NSME potentially leave more glandular tissue at risk for subclinical disease.

Induction chemotherapy before chemoradiotherapy and surgery for locally advanced rectal cancer : is it time for a randomized phase III trial?

Background: in the era of preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and total mesorectal excision (TME), the development of distant metastases is the predominant mode of failure in rectal cancer patients today. Integrating more effective systemic therapy into combined modality programs is the challenge. The question that needs to be addressed is how and when to apply systemic treatment with adequate dose and intensity.

The CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100 releases a subset of G-CSF-primed peripheral blood progenitor cells with specific gene expression characteristics.

Objective: AMD3100 is a new CXCR4 antagonist that induces a rapid release of hematopoietic progenitors from the bone marrow to the peripheral blood. We conducted a clinical study where patients with multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were treated with AMD3100 (A) to increase the number of peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs) when given a mobilization regimen of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF, G). Because experimental data suggest that A+G-mobilized PBPCs are functionally different from G-mobilized PBPCs, we were interested in an intraindividual comparison of the gene expression profile of CD34+ cells in the two different settings.