Protective effect of bisphosphonates on endometrial cancer incidence in data from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) cancer screening trial.

Background: Preclinical studies have demonstrated antitumor effects of bisphosphonates. The objective of the current study was to determine the effect of exposure to bisphosphonate on the incidence of endometrial cancer.

Methods: The authors used data from the National Cancer Institute's Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial, which collected data on all cancers.

Low-dose abdominal radiation as a docetaxel chemosensitizer for recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer: a phase I study of the Gynecologic Oncology Group.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose and dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) of whole abdomen radiation as a chemosensitizer of weekly docetaxel for women with recurrent epithelial ovarian fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancers.

Patients And Methods: Women were enrolled on one of three dose levels of docetaxel (20, 25, or 30 mg/m(2)) administered weekly with concurrent low-dose whole abdominal radiation given as 60 cGy bid 2 days weekly for a total of 6 weeks.

Results: Thirteen women were enrolled and received 70 weekly treatments of docetaxel in combination with radiation therapy.

Social isolation is associated with elevated tumor norepinephrine in ovarian carcinoma patients.

Noradrenergic pathways have been implicated in growth and progression of ovarian cancer. Intratumoral norepinephrine (NE) has been shown to increase with stress in an animal cancer model, but little is known regarding how tumor NE varies with disease stage and with biobehavioral factors in ovarian cancer patients. This study examined relationships between pre-surgical measures of social support, depressed mood, perceived stress, anxiety, tumor histology and tumor catecholamine (NE and epinephrine [E]) levels among 68 ovarian cancer patients.

Preservation of immune function in cervical cancer patients during chemoradiation using a novel integrative approach.

Patients receiving chemoradiation for cervical cancer are at risk for distress, chemoradiation-related side-effects, and immunosuppression. This prospective randomized clinical trial examined effects of a complementary therapy, Healing Touch (HT), versus relaxation training (RT) and usual care (UC) for (1) supporting cellular immunity, (2) improving mood and quality of life (QOL), and (3) reducing treatment-associated toxicities and treatment delay in cervical cancer patients receiving chemoradiation. Sixty women with stages IB1 to IVA cervical cancer were randomly assigned to receive UC or 4 ×/weekly individual sessions of either HT or RT immediately following radiation during their 6-week chemoradiation treatment.

A Phase II evaluation of weekly topotecan as a single agent second line therapy in persistent or recurrent carcinoma of the cervix: a Gynecologic Oncology Group study.

Purpose: To estimate antitumor activity and toxicity of weekly topotecan hydrochloride in patients with persistent or recurrent cervical carcinoma who failed prior treatment.

Patients And Methods: Women entered on study had or failed one prior chemotherapy regimen in addition to radiosensitizing chemotherapy, performance status less than 3, and adequate hematologic, renal, hepatic, and neurological function. Topotecan was infused at 3.

Phase II trial of bevacizumab in the treatment of persistent or recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix: a gynecologic oncology group study.

Purpose: Vascular endothelial growth factor is a key promoter of tumor progression in cervical carcinoma. The Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) conducted a phase II trial to assess the efficacy and tolerability of bevacizumab, a recombinant humanized anti-vascular endothelial growth factor monoclonal antibody.

Patients And Methods: Eligible patients had recurrent cervical cancer, measurable disease, and GOG performance status < or = 2.

The treatment of early stage cervical cancer: an assessment of pre-operative factors.

Objective: To assess the pre-operative clinical factors of a group of early stage cervical cancer patients and correlate them to the risk for adjuvant radiotherapy using GOG 92 and 109 criteria.

Method: A retrospective chart review of cervical cancer patients treated at the Saint Louis University Division of Gynecologic Oncology between the years 1989 and 2004 was performed. The results were compared with chi-squared testing and multivariable regression analysis.

Postoperative wound infection with Pasteurella multocida from a pet cat.

We summarize an unusual postoperative wound infection that was caused by Pasteurella multocida from a house cat licking the incision in an obese gynecologic oncology patient. A 48-year-old morbidly obese woman had a wound abscess 6 weeks after hysterectomy and panniculectomy for a International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IA grade 1 endometrial cancer. P multocida was cultured from the abscess and the patient was treated with drainage and intravenous antibiotics.