Recurrence patterns after extended treatment with bevacizumab for ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancers.

Objective: To evaluate patterns of recurrence for ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancer patients undergoing extended treatment with bevacizumab (BEV).

Methods: A retrospective review of patients with primary ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer treated with BEV alone or in combination with other chemotherapy from 2001 to 2011 was performed. Qualified patients were identified by chemotherapy records.

Disparities in treatment and survival between African American and White women with vaginal cancer.

Objective: The study aims to compare the difference in treatment and survival between White (W) and African American (AA) patients with vaginal cancer (VC).

Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of invasive vaginal cancer were identified from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program from 1988 to 2007 and were divided into White (W) and African American (AA) subgroups. Student's t test, Kaplan-Meier survival methods, and Cox regression proportional hazards were performed.

Prognostic impact of laterality in malignant ovarian germ cell tumors.

Objective: To compare the survival of patients with bilateral versus unilateral malignant ovarian germ cell tumors (OGCT).

Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of OGCT were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program for the period 1988 to 2006 and were divided into bilateral and unilateral subgroups. Only surgically treated patients were included.

FOXP3+ regulatory T-cells are abundant in vulvar Paget's disease and are associated with recurrence.

Objective: To characterize clinical features of vulvar Paget's disease, and examine the quantity of immunosuppressive regulatory T-cells in vulvar Paget's tissue.

Methods: Vulvar Paget's cases from 1992 to 2007 from two institutions were identified by pathology database search. Regulatory T-cells were identified with FOXP3 immunohistochemistry and quantified at the dermal-epidermal junction using image analysis software.

Alternative intraperitoneal chemotherapy regimens for optimally debulked ovarian cancer.

Objective: GOG 172 showed a survival benefit with intraperitoneal (IP) cisplatin for advanced ovarian cancer, but patients tolerated the regimen poorly. We hypothesized that women treated with alternative IP chemotherapy strategies may have less toxicity and improved compliance.

Methods: We reviewed the records of women with ovarian cancer and optimal surgical debulking who underwent IP chemotherapy at our institution.

A psychoeducational intervention for sexual dysfunction in women with gynecologic cancer.

Treatment of early-stage cervical and endometrial cancer has been associated with significant sexual difficulties in at least half of women following hysterectomy. Despite the fact that women report such sexual side effects to be the most distressing aspect of their cancer treatment, evidence-based treatments for Female Sexual Arousal Disorder (FSAD), the most common sexual symptom in this group, do not exist. We developed and pilot tested a brief, three session psychoeducational intervention (PED) targeting FSAD in 22 women with early-stage gynecologic cancer.

Weekly gemcitabine and cisplatin in combination with pelvic radiation in the primary therapy of cervical cancer: a phase I trial of the Puget Sound Oncology Consortium.

Objective: Define the maximum tolerated dose of weekly gemcitabine given concomitantly with standard weekly cisplatin and pelvic radiotherapy for primary treatment of cervical cancer.

Methods: Gemcitabine at specified dose levels was given concomitantly with weekly cisplatin at 40 mg/m2 for six cycles with concurrent radiotherapy in primary therapy of stage IB-IVA cervix cancer. Radiation consisted of 4500-5000 cGy in 25 daily fractions combined with brachytherapy to take point A to > or = 8500 cGy.

Does size matter? Tumor size and morphology as predictors of nodal status and recurrence in endometrial cancer.

Objective: To determine whether tumor size or morphology is predictive of extrauterine disease and/or recurrence risk in endometrial cancer and therefore guide decisions about the necessity of complete surgical staging and adjuvant therapy.

Methods: All women with surgically treated endometrial carcinoma between 1 January 1990 and 1 January 2000 were eligible. 345 patients were eligible for retrospective chart review.

Glassy cell carcinoma of the cervix revisited.

Objective: Glassy cell carcinoma (GCC) of the cervix has traditionally been characterized as an aggressive histologic subtype with poor outcomes. An earlier series from our institution supported a grim prognostic outlook, demonstrating a survival rate of only 55% in women with stage I disease. We present a comparison of a contemporary series of patients with GCC.

A population-based study of squamous cell vaginal cancer: HPV and cofactors.

Background: Little is known about the etiology of in situ or invasive squamous cell cancer of the vagina. It is thought that some vaginal cancers may have the same etiology as cervical cancer. It is also not known whether in situ and invasive vaginal cancer share the same etiologic factors.