Utility of routine post-therapy surveillance imaging in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Purpose: We examined the utility of post-therapy surveillance imaging in a large, prospectively enrolled cohort of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) from the United States and confirmed our results in an independent cohort of patients from France.

Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL and treated with anthracycline-based immunochemotherapy were identified from the Molecular Epidemiology Resource (MER) of the University of Iowa/Mayo Clinic Lymphoma Specialized Program of Research Excellence and the Léon Bérard Cancer Center, Lyon, France. In those with relapse, details at relapse and outcomes were abstracted from records.

Impact of the introduction of rituximab in first-line follicular lymphoma: a retrospective study of 247 unselected patients referred to a single institution with a long-term follow-up.

Rituximab was approved in France in 2004, following randomized trials that demonstrated efficacy in newly diagnosed high tumour burden follicular lymphoma (FL). This retrospective study compared the management and outcome of FL in unselected patients treated in a single institution before and after rituximab approval. Two hundred and forty-seven adult patients were referred with first-line FL between 1996 and 2010 and are included in this study.

Body weight change in women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: a French prospective study.

Background & Aims: Adjuvant chemotherapy has frequently been associated with weight gain after breast cancer diagnosis. We aimed to prospectively evaluate body weight variations in French patients with early breast cancer.

Methods: This prospective observational study included 272 breast cancer patients who were candidates for adjuvant chemotherapy.

Serum cytokines in follicular lymphoma. Correlation of TGF-β and VEGF with survival.

The prognosis of follicular lymphoma could vary with the tumor immune microenvironment. We evaluated the prognostic value of serum levels of ten cytokines. Our study cohort included 60 follicular lymphoma patients and 20 controls.

Combination of rituximab with chemotherapy in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Evaluation in daily practice before and after approval of rituximab in this indication.

Randomized trials have demonstrated improved outcome from adding rituximab to CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). This retrospective study compared the outcomes of 224 patients with DLBCL treated in our institution before (Period 1, 1996-2002) and after (Period 2, 2002-2005) approval of rituximab in this indication to evaluate the impact of the drug in daily practice in unselected patients receiving different types of chemotherapy. We treated 131 patients in Period 1 versus 93 in Period 2 (median follow-up, 75 and 29 months, respectively) with no difference in patient characteristics between the two periods.

Time-to-event analysis with artificial neural networks: an integrated analytical and rule-based study for breast cancer.

This paper presents an analysis of censored survival data for breast cancer specific mortality and disease-free survival. There are three stages to the process, namely time-to-event modelling, risk stratification by predicted outcome and model interpretation using rule extraction. Model selection was carried out using the benchmark linear model, Cox regression but risk staging was derived with Cox regression and with Partial Logistic Regression Artificial Neural Networks regularised with Automatic Relevance Determination (PLANN-ARD).

Development of a rule based prognostic tool for HER 2 positive breast cancer patients.

A three stage development process for the production of a hierarchical rule based prognosis tool is described. The application for this tool is specific to breast cancer patients that have a positive expression of the HER 2 gene. The first stage is the development of a Bayesian classification neural network to classify for cancer specific mortality.

Second autologous transplantation after failure of a first autologous transplant in 18 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

High-dose chemotherapy and autologous marrow or peripheral stem cell support offers the best chance of cure in some subgroups of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Less is known about the role of a second course of myeloablative chemotherapy in patients who relapse after a first autologous transplant. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the disease outcome, morbidity and mortality associated with second autologous transplantation in patients with NHL.