Hyperbaric Oxygen as Radiation Sensitizer for Locally Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oropharynx: A Phase 1 Dose-Escalation Study.

Purpose: To explore, in a dose-escalation study, the feasibility of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatments immediately before intensity modulated radiation therapy in conjunction with cisplatinum chemotherapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).

Methods And Materials: Eligible patients presented with SCCHN (stage III-IV [M0]), life expectancy >6 months, and Karnofsky performance status ≥70. Enrollees received intensity modulated radiation therapy, 70 Gy in 35 fractions over 7 weeks with weekly cisplatinum.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nasal real-time PCR: a predictive tool for contamination of the hospital environment.

OBJECTIVE We sought to determine whether the bacterial burden in the nares, as determined by the cycle threshold (CT) value from real-time MRSA PCR, is predictive of environmental contamination with MRSA. METHODS Patients identified as MRSA nasal carriers per hospital protocol were enrolled within 72 hours of room admission. Patients were excluded if (1) nasal mupirocin or chlorhexidine body wash was used within the past month or (2) an active MRSA infection was suspected.

Addressing distress in patients with head and neck cancers: a mental health quality improvement project.

This study sought to improve mental health care for patients with head and neck cancers (HNCs) through the implementation of an evidence-based process for identifying and managing psychological distress. This process in an HNC medical oncology clinic was assessed and redesigned using quality improvement (QI) methods from November 2010 through April 2012. The redesign, starting in January 2011, involved a 2-component QI intervention: the validated NCCN Distress Thermometer and an evidence-based treatment decision algorithm.

Use of a linear array for the detection of human papillomavirus genotypes in head and neck cancer.

Context: Tumors of the head and neck commonly arise from the squamous and respiratory mucosa that lines the nasal and oral cavity, sinuses, pharynx, and larynx. The rate of oropharyngeal cancers diagnosed among Americans younger than 50 years is increasing. Infection of the oropharynx and tonsils by the human papillomavirus (HPV) has been linked to preneoplasia and cancer.

A dose escalation trial of biweekly docetaxel and gemcitabine with filgrastim or pegfilgrastim for the treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors.

Background/aims: A single-institution phase I trial to determine the feasibility of using filgrastim or pegfilgrastim to increase the dose intensity of biweekly docetaxel and gemcitabine.

Methods: Patients with metastatic solid tumors received gemcitabine 3,000 mg/m(2) and increasing doses of docetaxel (55 mg/m(2) in 10 mg/m(2) increments) every 14 days with filgrastim or pegfilgrastim.

Results: 35 patients enrolled, median 2 prior therapies, 158 cycles of therapy.

Problem-based learning of research skills.

Purpose: To determine whether a short-term, problem-based educational intervention leads to increased research activity among health care practitioners.

Subjects And Methods: Participant's success was evaluated as a composite of 2 outcomes. These were (1) reporting results for the project designed during the practicum and (2) conducting subsequent research activities.

Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibition represses cyclin D1 in aerodigestive tract cancers.

Purpose: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are active in cancer therapy. Mechanisms engaged during these clinical responses need to be determined. We reported previously that epidermal growth factor stimulation markedly increased cyclin D1 protein expression in human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells, and this was opposed by chemoprevention with all-trans-retinoic acid.