A phase I study of pemetrexed, carboplatin, and concurrent radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung or esophageal cancer.

Purpose: The primary objective of this phase I study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose for pemetrexed, alone and in combination with carboplatin, with concurrent radiotherapy.

Experimental Design: Patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or esophageal cancer were treated every 21 days for two cycles. Regimen 1 was pemetrexed (200-600 mg/m(2)); regimen 2 was pemetrexed (500 mg/m(2)) with escalating carboplatin doses (AUC = 4-6).

Yield of brain 18F-FDG PET in evaluating patients with potentially operable non-small cell lung cancer.

Unlabelled: The American College of Surgeons Oncology Group recently completed a trial evaluating the role of PET with 18F-FDG in patients with documented or suspected non-small cell lung cancer. Subjects underwent standard imaging to exclude metastatic disease before PET. Here, we report the yield of brain PET in evaluating, for potential intracranial metastases, patients who have undergone previous brain CT or MRI with negative findings.

Histopathologic characteristics, recurrence patterns, and survival of 129 patients with desmoplastic melanoma.

Background: Desmoplastic melanoma (DM) has been associated with higher local recurrence rates than other types of cutaneous melanoma. Current controversies regarding locoregional treatment strategies warrant further investigation.

Methods: Retrospective review of a prospectively maintained melanoma database identified 129 patients with DM out of >12,500 melanoma patients referred for treatment from 1980 to 2003.

Surgical complications associated with sentinel lymph node biopsy: results from a prospective international cooperative group trial.

Background: American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Z0010 is a prospective multicenter trial designed to evaluate the prognostic significance of micrometastases in the sentinel lymph nodes and bone marrow aspirates of women with early-stage breast cancer. Surgical complications associated with the sentinel lymph node biopsy surgical procedure are reported.

Methods: Eligible patients included women with clinical T1/2N0M0 breast cancer.

The surgical management of lung cancer.

Since the introduction of the pneumonectomy as a technically feasible strategy for the treatment of lung cancer, surgical resection has played a pivotal role in the management of early stage non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). In the last two decades, surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists have produced a growing body of evidence to support the combination of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatments with standard surgical resection, to improve disease-free and overall survival for specific patient subgroups. Furthermore, alternatives to aggressive surgical management have evolved for patients who are medically inoperable due to compromised pulmonary function or other comorbidities.

Sentinel node skills verification and surgeon performance: data from a multicenter clinical trial for early-stage breast cancer.

Objective: Marked variations in sentinel lymph node dissection (SLND) technique have been identified, and definitive qualifications for SLND performance remain controversial. Based on previous reports and expert opinion, we predicted that 20 to 30 cases of SLND with axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) would enable surgeons to identify sentinel lymph nodes (SLN).

Summary Background Data: In 1999, the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group initiated a prospective trial, Z0010, to evaluate micrometastatic disease in the SLN and bone marrow of women with early-stage breast cancer.

Sentinel lymph node dissection and the current status of American trials on breast lymphatic mapping.

The current national sentinel lymph node (SLN) clinical trials for breast carcinoma address the prognostic and therapeutic utility of SLN dissection (SLND) in women with early-stage, clinically node-negative breast cancer. Following completion of these studies, overall survival, disease-free survival, morbidity, and quality of life of patients will be compared. Surgeon participation is crucial to the ongoing success of clinical trials in the field of breast cancer surgery.

Results of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Z0050 trial: the utility of positron emission tomography in staging potentially operable non-small cell lung cancer.

Objectives: The American College of Surgeons Oncology Group undertook a trial to ascertain whether positron emission tomography with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose could detect lesions that would preclude pulmonary resection in a group of patients with documented or suspected non-small cell lung cancer found to be surgical candidates by routine staging procedures.

Methods: A total of 303 eligible patients registered from 22 institutions underwent positron emission tomography after routine staging (computed tomography of chest and upper abdomen, bone scintigraphy, and brain imaging) had deemed their tumors resectable. Positive findings required confirmatory procedures.

The role of antibodies and von Willebrand factor in discordant pulmonary xenotransplantation.

Pulmonary xenotransplantation is one potential solution to the paucity of donors but is currently limited by rapid failure of the graft. Unlike cardiac and renal xenotransplants, pulmonary xenografts release large quantities of swine von Willebrand factor (vWF). Swine vWF binds xenoreactive antibodies and is capable of activating primate platelets.