2010 abstract:Restless legs syndrome and its relationship with anxiety, depression, and quality of life in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

"The prevalence of RLS in patients undergoing chemotherapy is 18.3%, about double of that expected in the general population. The occurrence of RLS is much more frequent in female patients and with longer-term chemotherapy."

Restless Legs Syndrome Fact Sheet: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

What causes restless legs syndrome?

In most cases, the cause of RLS is unknown (referred to as idiopathic). A family history of the condition is seen in approximately 50 percent of such cases, suggesting a genetic form of the disorder. People with familial RLS tend to be younger when symptoms start and have a slower progression of the condition.

In other cases, RLS appears to be related to the following factors or conditions, although researchers do not yet know if these factors actually cause RLS.

Differentiating between Peripheral Neuropathy, Leg Cramps, and Restless Legs Syndrome | Foot Pain Center

High prevalence of restless legs syndrome in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: ASCO abstract

Efficacy of Annual Colonoscopic Surveillance in Individuals With Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer (Lynch Syndrome) - MS status

Note: MS - microsatellite status
  
Methods:In a prospective, multicenter cohort study, 1126 individuals underwent 3474 colonoscopies. We considered individuals from 3 groups of HNPCC families: those with a pathogenic germline mutation in a mismatch repair gene (MUT group), those without a mutation but with microsatellite instability (MSI group), and those who fufilled the Amsterdam criteria without microsatellite instability (MSS group).

Conclusions:
Annual colonoscopic surveillance is recommended for individuals with HNPCC. Less intense surveillance might be appropriate for MSS families.

Risk assessment, genetic testing, and management of Lynch syndrome-abstract

"...Genetic test results, when conclusive, can guide management for patients and their families. However, indeterminate test results may provide false reassurance to patients who should be managed as being at higher-than-average risk...."

Distribution of second primary malignancies suggests a bidirectional effect between breast and endometrial cancer: a population-based study - abstract

Note: the study included Tamoxifen use; risks of other cancers including ovarian (% risk)

Hereditary Ovarian Cancer: Molecular Genetics, Pathology, Management, and Heterogeneity

Future Prospects: DNA Variants Modify HBOC and LS (Lynch Syndome) Cancer Risk:
What does the future hold with respect to molecular genetics and cancer control in hereditary cancer, inclusive of HBOC and Lynch syndrome?

This projection relates to the truism that cancer-causing mutations do not act in a vacuum, since they are likely to be impacted by additional low-penetrant modifier genes in concert with myriad environmental events.

PLoS ONE: An Epigenetic Signature in Peripheral Blood Predicts Active Ovarian Cancer

Note: in research; included all major subtypes of epithelial ovarian cancer (see table 1)

full access: PLoS ONE: The Prognostic Value of BRCA1 mRNA Expression Levels Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer

Background:
A fraction of sporadic breast cancers has low BRCA1 expression. BRCA1 mutation carriers are more likely to achieve a pathological complete response with DNA-damage-based chemotherapy compared to non-mutation carriers. Furthermore, sporadic ovarian cancer patients with low levels of BRCA1 mRNA have longer survival following platinum-based chemotherapy than patients with high levels of BRCA1 mRNA.
Conclusions/Significance:
We provide evidence for a major role for BRCA1 mRNA expression as a marker of time to progression and overall survival in sporadic breast cancers treated with anthracycline-based chemotherapy. These findings can be useful for customizing chemotherapy.

Prognostic Factors for Stage I Ovarian Carcinoma

All patients who died of disease were stage IC

Administrative Outcomes Five Years after Opening an Acute Palliative Care Unit at a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"Purpose:.....In keeping with targets set at the unit's opening, our primary hypotheses were that outpatient admissions, admissions for symptom control, and discharges home would increase over the study period; secondary hypotheses were that length of stay and inpatient death rate would decrease.....Results: There were 1748 admissions during the study period: the median age was 64, 54% were women, and the most common cancer sites were gastrointestinal (24%), lung (20%), and gynecologic (13%)....Conclusion: Setting and adhering to administrative targets for an APCU is possible with appropriate admission criteria, adequate community resources, and education of patients, families and health professionals regarding the model of care."

Prevalence of BRCA2 and CDKN2a mutations in German familial pancreatic cancer families.

Ovarian Intestinal Type Mucinous Borderline Tumors: Are We Ready for a Nomenclature Change?

"At a National Cancer Institute-sponsored workshop it was proposed that the borderline category of ovarian intestinal-type mucinous tumors (OInMTs) could be eliminated if the apparent benign behavior of these tumors could be confirmed.....Caution dictates retaining the current nomenclature to ensure the follow-up of patients affected by this disease until uncertainty regarding the extent of sampling needed to exclude the presence of carcinoma is resolved."

Study on cancer incidence through the Cancer Registry Program in 11 Cities and Counties, China (1988-2002 cancer registries data)

"The leading cancer sites were lung, stomach, liver, esophagus, breast, colon, rectum, pancreas, bladder and leukemia. The sixteen key cancers accounted for 85.56% of all the cancer cases. The crude incidence rate of all cancers had been significantly increased from 1988 to 2002. Among them, prostate ranked the fastest growing one followed by cancers of the gallbladder, breast, colon, ovarian, lymphoma, bladder, pancreas, rectum, lung, leukemia and liver. The one that had reduced the most was cervix uteri, followed by esophagus, stomach and nasopharynx."

Building a better understanding of the intracellular tyrosine kinase PTK6 - BRK by BRK.

"PTK6 expression is also increased in a number of other epithelial tumors, including ovarian and colon cancer."

Seromic profiling of ovarian and pancreatic cancer- abstract

Three New Technologies for Beating Breast Cancer - Women's Health Online

* Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)
* DyNeMo (analyzes networks of proteins in cancer cells)
* Automated Breast Volume Scanner (ABVS)

Breast Cancer - Women's Health Online

"Genes that can predict which breast cancer patients will respond to the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel have been identified by an international team of scientists.
They analyzed 829 genes in breast cancer cells and pinpointed 6 that had an impact on whether the drug was effective, BBC News reported.

Hormones, Hypertension and Headaches- Women's Health Online

Taxol (Paclitaxel) Drug Information: Uses, Side Effects, Drug Interactions and Warnings at RxList

definition: Neuromotor: A term that describes a process involving both nerves and muscles Note the terms: neurotoxicity/neuromotor/neurosensory (relating to restless leg syndrome, neuropathy as examples)