Sexuality, fertility and pregnancy following breast cancer treatment.

For women facing a new diagnosis of breast cancer, treatments can result in changes to intimate issues, including sexual health. For women of reproductive age, other significant concerns include the potential impact on fertility and the safety of pregnancy after treatment. These issues are important to acknowledge and to address, as they can impact on quality of life, not only for the patient, but may impact relationships, both present and future.

Chemotherapy completion in elderly women with ovarian, primary peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer - An NRG oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group study.

Purpose: A simple measure to predict chemotherapy tolerance in elderly patients would be useful. We prospectively tested the association of baseline Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) score with ability to complete 4 cycles of first line chemotherapy without dose reductions or >7days delay in elderly ovarian cancer patients.

Patients And Methods: Patients' age ≥70 along with their physicians chose between two regimens: CP (Carboplatin AUC 5, Paclitaxel 135mg/m) or C (Carboplatin AUC 5), both given every 3weeks either after primary surgery or as neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) with IADL and quality of life assessments performed at baseline, pre-cycle 3, and post-cycle 4.

Predicting Breast Tumor Size for Pre-operative Planning: Which Imaging Modality is Best?

We sought to compare breast tumor size predicted by imaging modality to the actual pathologic size in order to determine which imaging modality is best at estimating tumor size. We identified 261 patients with biopsy-proven invasive ductal (IDC) and/or invasive lobular (ILC) carcinomas with documented tumor dimensions predicted by imaging and maximum dimensions determined by final pathology. Results of imaging-predicted dimension were correlated with final pathological size.

Medical Marijuana Use in Oncology: A Review.

Importance: Medicinal marijuana use is currently legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia. As more states approve marijuana use for medical indications, physicians will be asked by their patients for more information regarding the risks and benefits of use. This article reviews the history, adverse effects, and proposed mechanisms of action of marijuana and summarizes the available literature regarding symptom relief and therapeutic value in patients with cancer.