[Role of the oncologist in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of neoplasms].

Oncological pathology represents a topic of particular interest and importance owing to both its rising frequency (151,690 deaths in Italy in 1992) and the continuous progress made in the diagnostic and therapeutic field. The steady growth of this pathology has led to the need to identify a new professional figure: the cancer physician capable of bringing together all the skills required to optimise the diagnosis and treatment of oncological patients. As it is now universally accepted in theory, but not always put into practice, the treatment of oncological pathologies calls for a multidisciplinary approach.

Prognostic value of anesthesia type for patients treated for cutaneous melanoma.

Background: General anesthesia has been reported to compromise several cell-mediated immune functions. Hence it is plausible that anesthesia could affect the postoperative outcome of cancer patients.

Objective: To study the influence of the type of anesthesia on survival of 459 patients with localized cutaneous melanoma observed between 1980 and 1991.

Survival and prognostic factors in patients with localised cutaneous melanoma observed between 1980 and 1991 at the Istituto Dermopatico dell'Immacolata in Rome, Italy.

530 patients with localised cutaneous melanoma consecutively observed between 1980 and 1991 at a hospital for skin diseases in Rome, Italy, were studied. Crude survival proportions were calculated with the method of Kaplan and Meier. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to estimate the effect of prognostic factors on death rates.