ONCOLOGY & HEMATOLOGY (US) – VOLUME 7 ISSUE 2 – FALL 2011

Karen M Mustian, PhD, MPH, et al. discuss the treatment of nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy. While newly available treatments have improved the management of nausea and vomiting, anticipatory and delayed nausea and vomiting is enough for patients to either refuse or contemplate stopping chemotherapy altogether. Their article provides an overview of the patho-psychophysiology of […]

Cancer treatments are quite challenging for cancer patients to endure. The cancer treatments and subsequent adverse effects patients experience often make them feel worse than the disease itself.1–3 Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) are two of the most common and troublesome adverse effects experienced by cancer patients.1–3 Cancer patients will delay chemotherapy treatments and contemplate […]

As cancer survival steadily improves, the prevalence of metastatic spine disease will continue to increase. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the US (behind heart disease) with an estimated 1.5 million new cases diagnosed annually.1 Recent advances in cancer therapy resulting in prolonged life expectancy seem to have resulted in more patients […]

Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) has become a common treatment approach for patients with advanced head and neck cancer, particularly when the disease is unresectable or the loss of function from surgery is excessive. Following such treatment, the majority of patients show a complete clinical response in the primary site. Some of these patients do not have a […]

Early detection and treatment of breast cancer have dramatically improved patient survival and favorably influenced the natural history of the disease. Clinicopathologic criteria such as tumor size and lymph-node involvement have historically been used to guide treatment, and earlier detection has now placed more emphasis on prognostic as well as predictive biomarkers that are useful […]

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy has revolutionized breast cancer management and has been generally accepted as a mainstay in lymph node evaluation for breast cancer patients. Still, there are many controversies that surround this technique, in terms of both the surgical procedure involved and how the SLNs are evaluated pathologically. The ramifications of isolated tumor […]

Despite the increasing sophistication of methods for detecting and diagnosing cancer, these methods fail to reveal a primary site of origin for a subset of patients with metastatic disease. Histopathology, the traditional cornerstone of cancer diagnosis, relies on cell morphology and tissue architecture, but can be subjective. Immunohistochemical analysis of specific tumor markers, in addition […]

Soft-tissue sarcomas are rare malignancies in children and adolescents. They represent only 7.4 % of cancer cases in children Other factors affecting clinical outcome have also been identified. Age less than one year or greater than nine years is associated with worse overall survival than children with RMS who are between one and nine years […]

Resection of all or part of the bony pelvis, commonly referred to as internal hemipelvectomy, is a common treatment for various localized primary tumors, and is also rarely used for metastatic lesions in this region.1,2 The generally accepted oncologic principle of obtaining a wide margin is followed to ensure adequate tumor resection and to optimize […]

Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common soft-tissue sarcoma in pediatric patients, with less frequent occurrence in young adults. The head/neck is a common site for this tumor with frequent involvement of the orbit, nasal cavity, nasopharynx, and paranasal sinuses. Although imaging features of head/neck rhabdomyosarcoma are non-specific and may resemble an aggressive fungal infection or other […]

Detection of Primary Tumor In breast cancer, the word ‘detection’ is most commonly used to mean breast cancer screening, most commonly using mammography. Breast cancer diagnosis involves the characterization of a suspicious mass or imaging finding, and entails tissue sampling to make a definitive diagnosis of cancer versus benign disease. Most primary cancers are detected […]

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a progressive and potentially fatal myeloproliferative disorder with over 5,000 new cases in the US each year, accounting for approximately 20 % of all leukemias diagnosed in adults.1 The natural history of CML consists of three distinct stages: chronic, accelerated, and blast phase.2 Most patients (90 %) are diagnosed in […]

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of clonal haematopoietic stem cell disorders that impair normal haematopoiesis, resulting in a variable number of cytopenias and a potential to evolve into acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).1 With a median age at diagnosis around 70 years, MDS typically affects the elderly.1,2 Hence, there is much morbidity and mortality […]

Introduction to Decision Analysis Some statisticians might question whether Hamlet could have been saved by clinical decision analysis. In his famous soliloquy, Hamlet pondered: “To be or not to be—that is the question.” With some refinement, this existential questioning and the perceived consequences could be simplified into a decision analysis tree, perhaps allowing our protagonist […]

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a common hemolytic anemia caused by a single gene mutation in the β-subunit of hemoglobin (Hb),1 affects millions of people worldwide, and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. An estimated 83,000 US citizens have been diagnosed with the disease and more than two million carry the genes for related […]

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) has evolved from an experimental therapy to an elective treatment for many hematological and non-hematological diseases. HSCT is strongly related to the availability of a histocompatible donor—around 25 % among family members. The establishment of national registries of hematopoietic stem cell donors and cord blood units joined worldwide enables […]

Phenotypic diversity within the β-thalassemia syndromes has traditionally received considerable interest, with several molecular and environmental modifiers of disease severity so far described.1 Patients with transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia major (TM) suffer the most severe form and show the highest mortality rates.1 Nevertheless, the introduction of safe transfusion practices and effective iron chelation therapy continues to improve […]