Breast cancer in male veteran population: an analysis from VA cancer registry.

Background: Male breast cancer is rare and makes up < 1% of all cases of breast cancers. Treatment and survival stage per stage is mainly based on what is known from female breast cancer.

Objectives: We determined the pathological features, stage, treatment of breast cancer in male veterans and their survival outcome.

Survival of older patients with cancer in the Veterans Health Administration versus fee-for-service Medicare.

Purpose: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) provides high-quality preventive chronic care and cancer care, but few studies have documented improved patient outcomes that result from this high-quality care. We compared the survival rates of older patients with cancer in the VHA and fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare and examined whether differences in the stage at diagnosis, receipt of guideline-recommended therapies, and unmeasured characteristics explain survival differences.

Patients And Methods: We used propensity-score methods to compare all-cause and cancer-specific survival rates for men older than age 65 years who were diagnosed or received their first course of treatment for colorectal, lung, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma in VHA hospitals from 2001 to 2004 to similar FFS-Medicare enrollees diagnosed in Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) areas in the same time frame.

Quality of care for older patients with cancer in the Veterans Health Administration versus the private sector: a cohort study.

Background: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States. Studies suggest that the VHA provides better preventive care and care for some chronic illnesses than does the private sector.

Objective: To assess the quality of cancer care for older patients provided by the VHA versus fee-for-service Medicare.

Sodium-wasting nephropathy caused by cisplatin in a patient with small-cell lung cancer.

We describe a case of severe hyponatremia following chemotherapy administration in a patient with small-cell lung cancer. There was no evidence of the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) secretion. The clinical and laboratory findings were consistent with a sodium-wasting nephropathy complicating cisplatin administration.

Patients' perceptions of quality of life after treatment for early prostate cancer.

Purpose: Treatment for early prostate cancer produces problematic physical side effects, but prior studies have found little influence on patients' perceived health status. We examined psychosocial outcomes of treatment for early prostate cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients with previously treated prostate cancer and a reference group of men with a normal prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level and no history of prostate cancer completed questionnaires.