EUROPEAN ONCOLOGY – VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2 – WINTER 2010

The articles in this edition of European Oncology cover a variety of cancers by therapeutic area. What they have in common is their relevance to salient topics in oncological theory and practice. They endeavour to provide the reader with up-to-date information regarding advances in treatment strategies and the development of novel therapies.

International Recognition of the Unique Needs of Cancer Survivors Over the past five years, the important role of survivorship care plans forall cancer survivors has been formally recognised. In the US, recommendations from the Institute of Medicine in 2005 that all patients completing active cancer care be provided with a survivorship care plan were a […]

Cancer patients rate nausea the most distressing side effect of chemotherapy.1,2 Chemotherapy-induced nausea continues to be reported by up to 70% of adult patients receiving moderately and highly emetogenic chemotherapy agents and 58% of school-age and adolescent-age children receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy, despite the extensive use of antiemetics.3,4 Currently, the standard of care for chemotherapy-induced […]

In the past few decades, a major shift in the local management of breast cancer has occurred: mastectomy was replaced by breast-conserving surgery (BCS) followed by post-operative whole breast radiotherapy (WBRT).1,2 Solid evidence from randomised trials supports that the combined treatment has equivalent results to mastectomy in terms of local control and survival rates.1,2 This […]

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the US, with 219,440 new cases of lung cancer diagnosed in 2009.1 According to the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), it is estimated that there will be 222,520 new cases and 157,300 deaths from lung cancer (nonsmall- cell and small-cell combined) in the US in […]

Lung cancer is a major global health burden: it was responsible for 1.3 million deaths in 2004, equating to 2.3% of all deaths. Death rates from lung cancer are predicted to continue to rise, with the disease being responsible for 2.8% of all deaths (1.67 million) by 2015.1 Despite advances in treatment, survival rates from […]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed malignancy in the world.1 Screening for CRC or its precursor lesions (adenomas) by endoscopy with polypectomy has been shown to reduce CRC incidence and mortality.2,3 More vigilant screening and surveillance by colonoscopy is recommended for certain high-risk populations, for example patients with a positive family history […]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major public health problem (1,200,000 new cases per year worldwide) and increasingly affects older people; the current median age at diagnosis is 71, and for CRC-related death is 75 years.1 After 50 years of age, the incidence doubles every seven years, and 76% of patients with newly diagnosed CRC are […]

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for 3% of all cancers.1,2 Approximately 30% of patients present with advanced and/or metastatic RCC (mRCC) at the time of diagnosis or develop metastases over time.3 Additionally, one-third of patients treated surgically for localised disease subsequently relapse and develop metastatic disease.3 The prognosis for patients with metastatic disease is poor, […]

Carcinoma of the vulva accounts for 4% of all female genital tract malignancies.1 The incidence in the UK is two per 100,000 female population.2 Vulval cancer is rare in young women with rates of more than one per 100,000 among women aged 25–44 years in the UK.2 In the US, 15% of vulval cancers are […]

Who Is At Risk and Why? Daniel Couriel (The Sarah Cannon Cancer Center, Nashville, TN, US) reviewed recently published data from the Transplant Associated Infection Surveillance Network (TransNet) of 23 US transplant centres, which showed a 12-month cumulative incidence of invasive fungal infection (IFI) among 15,820 HSCT patients of 3.4%.2 Although this is relatively low, […]

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the second most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma worldwide in adults (~20–25%). The origin of FL cells is follicle centre B lymphocytes. In the majority of patients the disease is diagnosed in advanced stages III/IV (~80%). For asymptomatic patients, watchful waiting may be appropriate since deferred therapy tested in three randomised […]

Paediatric thyroid cancer is a rare disease, with well under 15% of all differentiated thyroid cancers (DTCs) being diagnosed in childhood. However, as in adults DTC is the most common endocrine malignancy. DTCs account for ~10% of malignant tumours and ~35% of carcinomas in children.1 In the US, ~350 people In cases of non compliance […]

The primary myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are one of five major categories of myeloid neoplasms.1 Their actual incidence is unknown, but it has been suggested that it may be higher than estimated.2 Ageing is an important risk factor for the development of these diseases; in fact, the majority of patients with MDS are >55 years of […]

Magnetic-resonance-guided focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS) is a novel non-invasive therapeutic technique combining an MR imaging device and a focused ultrasound system, also called high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Concentration of ultrasound beams produces a highly localised (and controlled) increase in temperature (range 60–90ºC) at the focal concentration (sonication) spot and thermal ablation of the tissue.1 MR […]

Penile cancer is a rare disease in developed countries, but a recent epidemiological study showed that in some areas of Brazil this neoplasm is the second most common cause of malignant disease in men.1 After local invasion, inguinal lymph nodes are the first place prone to dissemination. In patients with impalpable nodes, 20–30% already have […]

Less than 100 years ago, when the life and probably health expectancies of both men and women were about equal, gender-specific health was not an issue. The realisation that the health of men is an area that requires specific attention has only recently been recognised. Significant gender disparities exist in life expectancy and major disease […]