Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in cancer patients: An Italian multicenter survey.

Introduction: Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) include a wide range of products (herbs, vitamins, minerals, and probiotics) and medical practices, developed outside of the mainstream Western medicine. Patients with cancer are more likely to resort to CAM first or then in their disease history; the potential side effects as well as the costs of such practices are largely underestimated.

Patients And Method: We conducted a descriptive survey in five Italian hospitals involving 468 patients with different malignancies.

Prognostic and predictive response factors in colorectal cancer patients: between hope and reality.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in Western Countries. In the last decade the survival of patients with metastatic CRC has improved dramatically.

Localized and systemic bacterial infections in necrotizing pancreatitis submitted to surgical necrosectomy or percutaneous drainage of necrotic secretions.

Background: Infectious complications are observed in 40-70% of all patients with severe acute pancreatitis. Infections are associated with a significant increase in mortality rates.

Methods: We evaluated the prevalence and characteristics of pancreatic and systemic infections in 46 patients with necrotizing pancreatitis submitted to surgical procedures during their hospital stay as well as the impact of such infectious complications on patient clinical outcome.

Oxaliplapin and capecitabine (XELOX) based chemotherapy in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer: the right choice in elderly patients.

Purpose: Elderly patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) differ from the general population and are underrepresented in clinical trials. We, retrospectively, analyzed the safety and efficacy of XELOX regimen in the treatment of elderly patients affected by mCRC.

Patients And Methods: One-hundred-eleven consecutive patients, aged 70 years or older, were enrolled in the study.

Nutrition in oncologic patients during antiblastic treatment.

Cancer may induce weight loss and cachexia, and cancer treatment may contribute to nutritional impairment. Here, we review the literature on the mechanisms of cancer cachexia and the pharmacological interventions both in use in clinical practice and currently under development. Based on this analysis, several nutritional proposals for cancer patients are suggested and the importance of good nutritional status in candidates for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is highlighted.

The role of nutrition in the development of esophageal cancer: what do we know?

Cancer of the esophagus is the eighth most common cancer by incidence worldwide and ranks sixth as the most common cause of cancer death. It is unique among the gastrointestinal tract malignancies because it embodies two distinct histopatologic types, squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Which type of cancer occurs in a given patient or predominates in a given geographic area depends on many variables, including individual lifestyle, socioeconomic pressures, environmental factors and diet and nutrition.

Adjuvant radiotherapy on older and oldest breast cancer patients after conservative surgery: a retrospective analysis.

Purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of adjuvant radiotherapy, in terms of feasibility and activity, in women aged ≥ 75 years with early (stage) breast cancer. From January 2000 to December 2007, 131 consecutive patients aged 75 years or older received adjuvant radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery. Eighty-two patients received radiotherapy in combination with 5 years of hormone therapy with tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitor.

Oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in the treatment of elderly patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC).

Elderly patients constitute a subpopulation with special clinical features that differ from those of the general population and are under-represented in clinical trials. We retrospectively analyzed the toxicity and efficacy of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in the treatment of elderly patients affected by metastatic (m) CRC. Seventy-five consecutive patients aged 65-75 years (median age 71 years), 51 males and 24 females, with mCRC and measurable disease, were analyzed.

Anal cancer: Focus on HIV-positive patients in the HAART-era.

Anal cancer represents an increasing health problem, especially in immune-compromised patients, as HIV-positive patients. Notably, a significant higher incidence rate is reported among HIV infected patients with the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). To date, no randomised trial supports the correlation between existing screening strategies and reduced progression of anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) to anal cancer or improved survival.

FOLFOX4 in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer in elderly patients: a prospective study.

Elderly patients constitute a subpopulation with special characteristics that differ from those of the general population and have been under-represented in clinical trials. We, prospectively, analyzed the toxicity and efficacy of the original FOLFOX4-regimen in the treatment of elderly patients affected by metastatic (m) colorectal cancer (CRC). Thirty-six consecutive patients aged 67-82 years (median age 72 years), 22 males and 14 females, with mCRC and measurable disease, were enrolled in the study.

Oxaliplatin based chemotherapy and concomitant highly active antiretroviral therapy in the treatment of 24 patients with colorectal cancer and HIV infection.

Background: Although FOLFOX4 is considered the standard chemotherapy regimen for colorectal cancer (CRC), few data are available on its results in human immunodeficiency (HIV)-related CRC. The results were analyzed to evaluate feasibility and activity of FOLFOX4 plus highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in metastatic CRC (mCRC) HIV-seropositive patients.

Patients And Methods: From January 2002 to March 2007, 24 patients were selected among the CRC HIV-seropositive patients treated with FOLFOX4 and concomitant HAART within the Italian Cooperative Group on AIDS and Tumors (GICAT).

Clinical presentation and outcome of colorectal cancer in HIV-positive patients: a clinical case-control study.

Background: Data on colorectal cancer (CRC) in HIV-positive patients are limited. The study objective was to investigate and compare clinical presentation and outcome between HIV-positive and HIV-negative CRC patients.

Patients And Methods: Between September 1985 and November 2003 we identified 27 cases of HIV-positive CRC patients from the cancer registry database - Italian Cooperative Group AIDS and Tumours (GICAT); the clinical presentation/outcome information was retrieved.

Bevacizumab plus irinotecan-, fluorouracil-, and leucovorin-based chemotherapy with concomitant HAART in an HIV-positive patient with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Background: In the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), malignancies are the primary cause of increased mortality in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, hence representing a new challenge for oncologists. To date, there is little evidence in the English literature about chemotherapy treatment in HIV-positive patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Case Report: We describe the case of an HIV-positive 48-year-old male patient with metastatic colorectal cancer, treated with a bevacizumab, irinotecan, fluorouracil, and leucovorin regimen, with concomitant HAART.