Optimal Timing for Postsurgical Adjuvant Therapy in Patients with Gastric Cancer: A Propensity Score Matching Study.

In clinical trials, adjuvant therapy (AT) has been shown to improve the prognosis in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma who undergo curative gastrectomy and adequate lymph node dissection. However, the optimal timing for initiating AT is still unclear. We collected data from 538 patients with stage II-III gastric cancer who underwent curative gastrectomy and AT in two tertiary hospitals from 2006 to 2013.

Transmission of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in a metropolitan city.

Multidrug-resistant (MDR)- tuberculosis (TB) and extensively drug resistant (XDR)-TB reportedly lead to increased household transmission. This is a retrospective cohort study of active TB occurring among household contacts exposed to MDR-TB. Of 704 contacts in 246 households, initial screening identified 12 (1.

Pyrazinamide may improve fluoroquinolone-based treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

The role of pyrazinamide in the current treatment of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) is uncertain. From a territory-wide registry of MDR-TB cases diagnosed between 1995 and 2009, we assembled a cohort of 194 patients with MDR pulmonary TB given fluoroquinolone-containing regimens. Stratified by pyrazinamide use and susceptibility, there were 83 users with pyrazinamide-susceptible MDR-TB (subgroup A), 24 users with pyrazinamide-resistant MDR-TB (subgroup B), 40 nonusers with pyrazinamide-susceptible MDR-TB (subgroup C), and 47 nonusers with pyrazinamide-resistant MDR-TB (subgroup D).

High pathologic complete response in HER 2-positive locally advanced breast cancer after primary systemic chemotherapy with weekly docetaxel and epirubicin.

Background: To evaluate pathological complete response rate and to identify the predictor of response after primary systemic chemotherapy (PST) with weekly docetaxel and epirubicin for locally advanced breast cancer.

Methods: Sixty-three patients with locally advanced breast cancer received three cycles PST on day 1 and 8 of each 3-week cycle with epirubicin and docetaxel (epirubicin 45 mg/m(2) intravenous bolus, docetaxel 35 mg/m(2) in 100 ml normal saline infused 1 h), followed by surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, epirubicin and 5-fluorouracil. The pathological complete response was defined as no invasive carcinoma in breast and axillary nodes after PST.

Prognosis of breast cancer after supraclavicular lymph node metastasis: not a distant metastasis.

Background: We performed this study to analyze the survival of breast cancer patients with isolated supraclavicular lymph node metastasis (SLNM) and assess whether SLNM is distant metastasis or not.

Methods: Sixty-three patients who developed an isolated SLNM among 3170 primary breast cancer patients between 1990 and 1999 were enrolled. The survival after SLNM was compared with that of 151 patients who developed local recurrences and 599 who had distant metastasis and was analyzed according to different levels and numbers of positive axillary nodes.

Increased feasibility of weekly epirubicin and paclitaxel as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced breast carcinoma.

Background: Primary systemic therapy (PST) with a combination of epirubicin and paclitaxel achieves high response rates in locally advanced breast cancer (LABC), but considerable toxicity occurs and the patient's compliance is poor. In this open-label phase II trial toxicity of a weekly administration schedule was evaluated.

Patients And Methods: On days 1 and 8 of each 3-week cycle, 45 patients with non-inflammatory breast cancer received epirubicin (35 mg/m(2), intravenous bolus) followed by paclitaxel (80 mg/m(2) in 500 ml of normal saline infused over 3 h) for 3 cycles.

Lhermitte's sign among nasopharyngeal cancer patients after radiotherapy.

Background: Lhermitte's sign (LS) is a side effect of radiotherapy (RT) on the spinal cord and typically occurs shortly after the procedure has been conducted. When treating patients with cancer of the head and neck region with irradiation, it remains difficult to avoid exposing the cervical spinal cord to unintended radiation. In this study, we focused on nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) alone and looked for various parameters that might influence the occurrence of LS associated with this disease after RT.

Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging evaluation for breast cancers after sonographically guided core-needle biopsy: a comparison study.

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for preoperative assessment of palpable breast cancer after sonographically guided percutaneous core-needle biopsy.

Methods: Thirty-six breast cancers in 35 women that had been diagnosed by sonographically guided core-needle biopsy prior to subsequent MRI were evaluated in this retrospective study. Radiological and pathological reports, multiplicity, retroareolar involvement, and the size of the breast cancers were reviewed.