Prevalence and Survival Impact of Pretreatment Cancer-Associated Weight Loss: A Tool for Guiding Early Palliative Care.

Purpose: Cancer-associated weight loss is associated with poor prognosis in advanced malignancy; however, its pretreatment prevalence and survival impact are inadequately described in large cohorts. Such data, stratified by tumor type and stage, may facilitate the optimal and timely allocation of complementary care, leading to improvements in patient survival and quality of life.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 3,180 consecutively treated adult patients with lung or GI (including colorectal, liver, and pancreatic) cancer.

Stereotactic ablative body radiation therapy for tumors in the lung in octogenarians: a retrospective single institution study.

Background: Treatment of cancer in the lung in octogenarians is limited by their health and functional status. Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy is an established noninvasive treatment option for medically inoperable patients, with a toxicity profile that may be more tolerable in elderly patients.

Methods: Patients more than 80 years old treated with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for malignant tumors in the lung between January 2007 and August 2012 at a single institution were identified and retrospectively analyzed for toxicity and survival.

Neutrophil-lymphocyte and platelet-lymphocyte ratios as prognostic factors after stereotactic radiation therapy for early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer.

Introduction: The hematologic indices of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are correlated with clinical outcomes after stereotactic radiation.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the pretreatment NLR and PLR in patients treated with stereotactic radiation for early stage non-small-cell lung cancer at our institution. A total of 149 patients treated for non-small-cell lung cancer were identified, and 59 had stage I disease with neutrophil, platelet, and lymphocyte levels within a 3-month period before treatment.

Contribution of genome-wide HCV genetic differences to outcome of interferon-based therapy in Caucasian American and African American patients.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has six major genotypes, and patients infected with genotype 1 respond less well to interferon-based therapy than other genotypes. African American patients respond to interferon alpha-based therapy at about half the rate of Caucasian Americans. The effect of HCV's genetic variation on treatment outcome in both racial groups is poorly understood.

Genome-wide hepatitis C virus amino acid covariance networks can predict response to antiviral therapy in humans.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a common RNA virus that causes hepatitis and liver cancer. Infection is treated with IFN-alpha and ribavirin, but this expensive and physically demanding therapy fails in half of patients. The genomic sequences of independent HCV isolates differ by approximately 10%, but the effects of this variation on the response to therapy are unknown.

Hepatitis C virus diversity and evolution in the full open-reading frame during antiviral therapy.

Background: Pegylated interferon plus ribavirin therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) fails in approximately half of genotype 1 patients. Treatment failure occurs either by nonresponse (minimal declines in viral titer) or relapse (robust initial responses followed by rebounds of viral titers during or after therapy). HCV is highly variable genetically.

Pretreatment sequence diversity differences in the full-length hepatitis C virus open reading frame correlate with early response to therapy.

Pegylated alpha interferon and ribavirin therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection fails for half of Caucasian American patients (CA) and more often for African Americans (AA). The reasons for these low response rates are unknown. HCV is highly genetically variable, but it is unknown how this variability affects response to therapy.