Patients' view of routine follow-up after gynecological cancer treatment.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the level of emotional distress and anxiety before one of the routine follow-up visits.

Study Design: 210 patients with gynecological malignancies completed the Psychological Assessment Screening Scale and a survey questionnaire about their views of follow-up.

Results: On the Psychological Assessment Screening Scale the majority of patients showed low levels of distress.

Epoetin alfa in platinum-treated ovarian cancer patients: results of a multinational, multicentre, randomised trial.

This multicentre, open-label, controlled clinical trial assessed the effects of epoetin alfa treatment on haematologic and quality of life (QOL) parameters in 182 anaemic (Hb< or = 12 g dl(-1)) ovarian cancer patients receiving platinum chemotherapy. Patients were randomised 2 : 1 to receive epoetin alfa 10,000-20 000 IU three times weekly plus best standard treatment (BST) or BST only. Main study end points were changes from baseline in haemoglobin (Hb) level, transfusion requirements, and QOL.

Analysis of the prognostic impact of tumor embolization before definitive radiotherapy for cervical carcinoma.

Purpose: To assess whether embolization compromises the radiocurability of primary cervical cancer.

Methods And Materials: Two hundred fifty-four patients with primary cervical cancer (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics [FIGO] stages IB: 47; II: 91; IIIB: 102; IV: 14) were treated with external beam irradiation and Ir-192 high-dose-rate brachytherapy over a period of 15 years. Of these, 24 patients (9.

Prognostic significance of preoperative DNA flow cytometry in surgically-treated cervical cancer.

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic significance of preoperative DNA flow cytometry compared with other clinical and histologic variables in cervical carcinoma.

Study Design: Sixty-four patients with FIGO Stage Ib-II cervical cancer treated with radical abdominal hysterectomy and systematic pelvic lymphadenectomy were analyzed. The mean follow-up was 3.

Evaluation of the effect of routine packed red blood cell transfusion in anemic cervix cancer patients treated with radical radiotherapy.

Purpose: It is well established that anemia predicts diminished radiocurability in cervix cancer. However, the therapeutic benefit of measures to correct the anemia remains controversial. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of routine transfusion in patients with hemoglobin level (hb-l) < or =11 g/dl.

Tumor progression, histologic grading and DNA-ploidy as predictive factors of lymphogenous metastasis in primary carcinoma of the Fallopian tube.

Unlabelled: The bad prognosis of primary carcinoma of the Fallopian tube (FTC), with 5-year overall survival rates of only 35%, is particularly ascribed to lymphogenous metastasis. Yet, we know very little on the pathophysiologic factors on which this lymphogenous metastasis is based. The present study, therefore, aims at evaluating the influence of intra-abdominal tumor progression and tumor-cell anaplasia on lymphogenous metastasis in FTC.

Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia III: long-term follow-up after cold-knife conization with involved margins.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term outcome of patients with severe cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) III or squamous carcinoma in situ after cold-knife conization with involved margins.

Methods: A total of 390 patients (median age 39 years, range 20-69) with positive margins after cold-knife conization for CIN III were followed expectantly for a mean of 19 (range 6-30) years. Follow-up consisted of colposcopy, cytology, histology, and pelvic examination.

Parametrial spread of cervical cancer in patients with negative pelvic lymph nodes.

Objective: We studied the incidence and prognostic implications of parametrial involvement according to tumor volume in a series of cervical cancer patients with negative pelvic lymph nodes.

Methods: We reviewed a series of 351 node-negative patients with stage IB, IIA, or IIB cervical cancer treated with class III radical hysterectomy. The surgical specimens were processed as step-serial giant sections and tumor volume was calculated.

Adaptative intima fibrosis in blood vessels in cervical carcinomas after preoperative cytotoxic chemotherapy.

Angiogenesis is an important component of tumor growth. After preoperative cytotoxic chemotherapy, tumor blood vessels of a large caliber become increasingly tortuous and their lumens narrow. The narrowing of the vessel lumens results from fibrosis of the intimal layer, which is called adaptative intimal fibrosis (AIF).

Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia III: long-term outcome after cold-knife conization with clear margins.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term outcome of patients with severe cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or squamous cell carcinoma in situ (CIN III) after cold-knife conization with clear margins.

Methods: A total of 4417 women (mean age 36, range 18-72 years) with histologically confirmed CIN III had cold-knife conization with clear margins at our institution between 1970 and 1994. All patients were followed up with colposcopy, cytology, and pelvic examination for a mean of 18 years (range 5-30years).

The relevance of adjuvant therapy in primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube, stages I and II: irradiation vs. chemotherapy.

Introduction: Primary carcinoma of the Fallopian tube (FTC) is a rare but extremely aggressive neoplasm. It must be expected to cause up to 40% of tumor-related deaths even in Stage I, and up to 57% in Stage II. Due to its rarity, there exist only a few and divergent reports on the value of adjuvant therapy.

The clinical value of serum concentrations of cancer antigen 125 in patients with primary fallopian tube carcinoma: a multicenter study.

Background: Primary fallopian tube carcinoma (PFTC) is a rare disease, and data on the serum concentration of tumor marker cancer antigen 125 (CA 125) in patients with this disease are sparse. The authors assessed the clinical value of the serum concentration of CA 125 as a prognostic and monitoring marker in patients with surgically treated PFTC.

Methods: In a multicenter study, the concentration of CA 125 was measured in 406 serum samples from 53 patients with PFTC.

Expression of oestrogen and progesterone receptors in low-grade endometrial stromal sarcomas.

We analysed oestrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expression in a retrospective series of 21 low-grade endometrial stromal sarcomas (LGSSs). Archival formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded material was analysed by immunohistochemistry. ER and PR were measured with monoclonal antibodies and the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method and a score was calculated as for breast carcinoma based on both the percentage of positive tumour cell nuclei and the staining intensity.

Clear cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix: pathology and prognosis in surgically treated stage IB-IIB disease in women not exposed in utero to diethylstilbestrol.

Objective: The purpose of this research was to compare the clinical behavior, pathology findings, and prognosis of surgically treated FIGO stage IB-IIB clear cell carcinomas of the cervix with those of squamous cell carcinomas and non-clear cell adenocarcinomas.

Methods: Fifteen patients with clear cell adenocarcinomas of the cervix (8 FIGO stage IB, 7 FIGO stage IIB) were reviewed. The control group consisted of 444 squamous cell carcinomas and 59 non-clear cell adenocarcinomas.

Lymphadenectomy in primary carcinoma of the Fallopian tube.

Objective: The bad prognosis of primary carcinoma of the Fallopian tube is ascribed to early lymphogenous metastasis. Due to the rarity of cases, there exist only few and divergent results on the importance of lymph node metastasis in the relevant literature. Thus, our study aimed at detecting the incidence of lymph node metastases and their influence on overall survival, as well as at evaluating the therapeutic effect of radical lymphadenectomy.

The tumor-associated shift in immunoglobulin G1/G2 is expressed at the messenger RNA level of peripheral blood B lymphocytes in patients with gynecologic malignancies.

Background: Previously, it could be demonstrated that human patients with malignant diseases of various tissues exhibited characteristic and highly significant changes in the serum patterns of immunoglobulin (Ig)G subclasses, consisting of a decrease in IgG1 and an increase in IgG2 relative to total IgG. The aim of the current study was to determine whether this phenomenon was detectable at the level of IgG-producing B lymphocytes.

Methods: Using a competitive reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction specific to IgG1 and IgG2, the gene expression of these 2 IgG subclasses in peripheral B cells from 10 patients with carcinomas of various sites within the female reproductive tract and 10 healthy controls was quantitatively determined, in parallel with the concentrations of the respective serum proteins.

Chemotherapy versus radiotherapy versus observation for high-risk cervical carcinoma after radical hysterectomy: A randomized, prospective, multicenter trial.

Background: Adjuvant treatment modalities after radical hysterectomy have long been used in an attempt to eradicate microscopic tumor residuals in patients at high risk for recurrence. However, it has not been clearly demonstrated that adjuvant radiation, adjuvant chemotherapy, or both improve the outcome. To evaluate the effect of adjuvant treatment in patients with high-risk cervical cancer after radical hysterectomy, the Austrian Gynecologic Oncology Group conducted a prospective, randomized, multicenter clinical trial between 1989 and 1995.

Management and prognosis of primary fallopian tube carcinoma. Austrian Cooperative Study Group for Fallopian Tube Carcinoma.

We retrospectively analyzed 143 women treated in 28 departments from 1980 to 1995, to study the impact of prognostic factors in primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube. Further aims of the study were to evaluate the treatment of fallopian tube carcinoma in Austria. Staging of disease was done according to the modified FIGO system, and grading according to the criteria suggested by Hu et al.

Consolidation radiotherapy after carboplatin-based chemotherapy in radically operated advanced ovarian cancer.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of additional radiotherapy after chemotherapy on the relapse-free and overall survival rates of patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

Methods: Between 1985 and 1992 64 patients with radically operated ovarian cancers (4 stage IC, 2 stage II, 54 stage III, and 4 stage IV) were enrolled in a randomized study. Radical surgery comprised total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, omentectomy, and pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy.

A 15-year overview of management and prognosis in primary fallopian tube carcinoma. Austrian Cooperative Study Group for Fallopian Tube Carcinoma.

143 women treated in 28 departments from 1980 to 1995 were retrospectively analysed to study the impact of prognostic factors in primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube. The mean age of the patients was 62.5 years.

Prognostic factors in patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix treated with external beam irradiation and IR-192 high-dose-rate brachytherapy.

Purpose: Prognostic factors in cancer of the cervix for patients treated with external beam irradiation (EBR) and low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy have been characterized. However, despite the increasing use of high-dose-rate (HDR) intracavitary placements (ICP), few studies with adequate follow-up have analyzed prognostic factors. This study investigates pretreatment and treatment factors for their correlation with treatment outcome after EBR and HDR-ICP.

Randomized trial of recombinant human interleukin-3 versus placebo in prevention of bone marrow depression during first-line chemotherapy for ovarian carcinoma.

Purpose: To determine whether recombinant human interleukin-3 (rhIL-3) reduces bone marrow depression and improves chemotherapeutic schedule adherence in ovarian cancer patients receiving first-line combination chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: In a randomized multicenter study, 185 patients received carboplatin (dose based on projected area under the concentration-time curve [AUC]=4) and cyclophosphamide (750 mg/m2) day 1, every 3 weeks for six cycles. Patients were randomized to receive rhIL-3 (5 microg/kg) or placebo once daily subcutaneously on days 3 to 12.