Right Ventricular Involvement of an Aggressive Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor.

We present a case of a 58-year-old woman who had a painful right thigh mass for a few months. A transthoracic echocardiogram revealed no evidence of an intracardiac mass. She had a whole-body positron emission tomography/computed tomography scan two months later that revealed masses in her right lower extremity and a mass in her right ventricle that had not been initially reported.

Capecitabine as Maintenance Therapy for High-Risk, Resected Colorectal Cancer.

Introduction: In 2020, colorectal cancer will be the fourth most frequently diagnosed malignant neoplasm and the second leading cause of site-specific, cancer-related deaths in the USA. Notably, 80% of the new cases are, by staging criteria, potentially curable even those with completely resected stage 4 disease. If slightly more than half the losses can be attributed to metastatic disease at presentation, then the remaining portion of deaths may be linked to disease relapse after surgery and, if applicable, adjuvant chemotherapy.

Efficacy of solubilized vemurafenib administered via nasogastric tube.

Until only a few years ago, there was only one truly effective therapy for patients with metastatic melanoma. While long-term remission could be achieved in some patients, toxicities associated with high-dose IL-2 were significant. New insight related to molecular pathways of tumor cells indicated that an activating mutation of BRAF can be found in approximately 50-60% of all patients with melanoma.

A phase 2 trial of ixabepilone plus cetuximab in first-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Background: The aim of this phase 2 study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ixabepilone plus cetuximab in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Methods: Eligible patients had advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma that was metastatic or not amenable to resection, a Karnofsky performance status ≥70%, and no prior therapy for advanced disease. Patients received ixabepilone 32 mg/m(2) (3-hour IV infusion) every 3 weeks and cetuximab 250 mg/m(2) (1-hour IV infusion) weekly.

Identification of a novel marker associated with risk for delayed chemotherapy-induced vomiting.

Purpose: Besides chemotherapy drugs, a number of patient-related factors (i.e., gender, age, history of alcohol consumption, and/or motion sickness) may be used to calculate the risk for chemotherapy-induced vomiting.

Prognostic significance of the "surprise" question in cancer patients.

Background: Physicians consistently overestimate survival for patients with cancer. The "surprise" question--"Would I be surprised if this patient died in the next year?"--improves end-of-life care by identifying patients with a poor prognosis. It has not been previously studied in patients with cancer.

Concordance between substance P levels and antiemetic guidelines.

Practice guidelines now include an antagonist of the substance P/NK1 (neurokinin 1) receptor pathway as part of the standard antiemetic regimen for patients receiving highly, as well as certain moderately, emetogenic chemotherapy regimens. Accumulated laboratory data were used to determine the degree of concordance between substance P levels and the current antiemetic guidelines. Five blood samples were collected over 72 hours from 22 adult patients treated with cisplatin-containing chemotherapy regimens.

Priorities and uncertainties of administering chemotherapy in a pregnant woman with newly diagnosed colorectal cancer.

Background: The absence of treatment standards for the use of chemotherapy in pregnancy is due, in part, to the fact that cancer in the gravid female is relatively uncommon.

Method: A case (of a pregnant woman with newly diagnosed colorectal cancer) is presented to explore this area of medical uncertainty.

Result: Managed by a multi-disciplinary team, successful prolongation of gestation was achieved with an oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy regimen.

5-Hydroxyindoleacetic acid and substance P profiles in patients receiving emetogenic chemotherapy.

Background: Even though direct cause and effect has not been proved, clinical evidence suggests serotonin and substance P (SP) are involved in the emetic response following chemotherapy. Because of several parallels, we hypothesized that SP release, like serotonin, may be propagated by chemotherapy and both substances can be measured in biological fluids, and correlated with a particular phase of emesis.

Methods: Urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) was assessed by HPLC; serum and urine SP were measured by immunoassay.

Phase II study of rubitecan, an oral camptothecin in patients with advanced colorectal cancer who have failed previous 5-fluorouracil based chemotherapy.

Background: Rubitecan (RFS-2000, 9NC, Orathecin) is an orally bioavailable camptothecin analogue, with evidence of preclinical activity in colon cancer cell lines. We evaluated oral rubitecan (5 days on, 2 days rest per week) on a continuous schedule, in patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC), who progressed after 5-fluorouracil based chemotherapy.

Patients And Results: Fourteen eligible patients were treated with rubitecan at 1.

Partial 7q Isochromosome in Bone Marrow Following Treatment of Hodgkin's Disease.

We report on a 29-year-old female followed for relapsed Hodgkin's disease. She had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease at 20 years of age and had been treated with chemotherapy. She had been in remission for six years when she relapsed, at which time she received chemotherapy for bone marrow transplant (BMT).

High-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation in relapsed and refractory Hodgkin's disease: outcome based on a prognostic model.

We evaluated the results of high-dose therapy (HDT) and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in patients with relapsed or primary refractory Hodgkin's disease (HD), using a previously reported prognostic model based on the presence of three poor prognostic factors at the start of salvage therapy/preparative regimen: B symptoms, extranodal disease and the duration of last complete response of less than 1 year. Based on this model, the patients were divided into low-risk and high-risk groups. Between 1993 and 2001, 24 patients with HD were treated with HDT and ASCT.