ONCOLOGY & HEMATOLOGY (US) – VOLUME 11 ISSUE 1 – SPRING 2015

Welcome to the spring edition of Oncology and Haematology Review (US), which features articles on major aspects of oncology. In the era of targeted therapy, oncologists are faced with an ever-increasing number of therapeutic options, and there is a need for biomarker assays to inform treatment decisions. Our first article, by Conley et al., reviews […]

Although the literature is replete with biomarker studies that show promise for predicting risk for cancer, response to treatment, or prognosis after diagnosis, the number of biomarker-based tests or assays that are useful in the practice of oncology remains distressingly small.1–3 A biomarker can be used to predict a patient’s prognosis, which is their expected […]

Cancer is a significant health problem in older persons.1 It is estimated that 42 % of all incident cases and over 60 % of mortality due to cancer occur in persons aged 70 and over.1,2 With the aging of the population there will be a considerable increase in the number of older adults diagnosed with […]

Breast cancer remains one of the largest contributors to cancer mortality in women in developed countries.1,2 As populations of developed countries are aging, the number of older women who have breast cancer will markedly increase in the upcoming decades. It has been shown that breast cancer prognosis deteriorates with age, even though mortality for other […]

The use of immunotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has long been investigated in advanced NSCLC. The frequent presence of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) noted in numerous tumor types provided early evidence of the potential immunogenicity of several cancers including NSCLC.1,2 However, initial attempts to exploit this therapeutically through tumor vaccines, interleukin (IL)-2, […]

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable plasma cell disease that comprises 1 % of all cancers and 10 % of hematologic malignancies. It primarily affects older individuals—the median age at the moment of diagnosis is 70 years—and two-thirds of multiple myeloma patients are over 65 years of age when they are first diagnosed. The outcome […]

The majority of patients undergoing radiation therapy for head and neck (HN) cancer will develop oral mucositis, which is a clinical syndrome characterized by erythema, ulcerations, and odynophagia (see Table 1). It is almost universal and more severe among patients with oral cavity, oropharynx, and nasopharynx primaries.1–3 Although therapeutic ratio and outcomes are improved by […]

Chemotherapy-induced neuropathy (CIN), which often results from a number of commonly used oncologic drugs, including taxanes, platinum agents, bortezomib, vinca alkaloids, ixabepilone, and eribulin, is one of the most debilitating symptoms caused by chemotherapy. Most research on this toxicity has focused on paclitaxel and oxaliplatin, both of which are used frequently and can cause severe […]

Recent Australian initiatives have improved the use and safety of opioid prescribing. The Cancer Council Australia has recently produced evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the management of cancer pain in adults. They are intended to guide community prescribers in the rational management of pain with advice on the assessment and nonpharmacologic management of pain as […]

Knowledge regarding the mechanisms driving progression of prostate cancer (PC) has improved dramatically in the past few years. This has allowed the accelerated development and approval of multiple drugs with different targets. The wide spectrum of rapid developments in this field warrants a comprehensive review. In this paper we aim to summarize the current standard […]

Progress in Diagnosis The two major symptoms in patients with peritoneal mesothelioma are abdominal pain and abdominal distention. The patient may also show constitutional symptoms, such as weight loss and fever. In women, diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (DMPM) is frequently diagnosed as an incidental finding. This fact may be responsible for the improved survival as […]

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Although they have been recognized as a distinct entity for several decades, it has only been over the past 10–15 years that these tumors have been truly studied and further defined by rigorous diagnostic and molecular criteria. Indeed, one might […]