Sunday, November 18, 2012
Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Patients With Cancer Treated With Cisplatin: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Patients With Cancer Treated With Cisplatin: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Conclusion Cisplatin is associated with a significant increase in the risk of VTEs in patients with advanced solid tumors when compared with non–cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
One Clinician’s Awakening | Journal of Participatory Medicine
One Clinician’s Awakening | Journal of Participatory Medicine
"...To spread the word that, whatever has happened to earn you the title of patient, or caregiver, has also given you another precious and powerful thing: personal experience! Because what this clinician has learned is that sometimes being a patient is what makes us strong, and helpful, and right."
Socio-demographic inequalities in stage of cancer diagnosis: evidence from patients with female breast, lung, colon, rectal, prostate, renal, bladder, melanoma, ovarian and endometrial cancer
Socio-demographic inequalities in stage of cancer diagnosis: evidence from patients with female breast, lung, colon, rectal, prostate, renal, bladder, melanoma, ovarian and endometrial cancer
"...The absence of socio-demographic variation in stage at diagnosis of three cancers (colon, rectal and ovarian cancer) should not be interpreted as an indication that patient awareness interventions for those three cancers are not justified. Such interventions are currently being implemented for colorectal cancer [37], while evidence increasingly supports their consideration for ovarian cancer [38]. The findings need to be interpreted in relation to their temporal context (2006–2010). Evidence from breast cancer and melanoma which both benefited from long-standing awareness campaigns indicates that when such interventions are effective [39], they tend to also generate health inequalities (younger and more affluent people typically being able to benefit more so than older and less affluent people) [40]. Avoiding potential inequality that can be generated by future effective patient awareness campaigns about colorectal and ovarian cancer presents a challenge......
press release: PRIMA BIOMED RELEASES INTERIM IMMUNE MONITORING DATA FROM CVAC CLINICAL TRIAL (CVac/ovarian)
About CAN-003
"CAN-003 is an open label, randomized, multinational, controlled phase 2 study. Sixty-three ovarian cancer patients in first or second remission have been enrolled. The first seven patients were not randomized and all received CVac. Subsequently, 29 patients were randomized to the CVac
group compared to 27 patients in the observation standard of care group."
ASX/Media Release 14 November 2012
PRIMA BIOMED RELEASES INTERIM IMMUNE MONITORING DATA FROM CVAC CLINICAL TRIAL
• Interim immune monitoring data demonstrate positive effects of CVacTM
• Conference call to present the data scheduled for November 15th
Systemic thromboembolism after anti-cancer chemotherapy in a woman with ovarian germ cell tumor
Systemic thromboembolism after anti-cancer chemotherapy in a woman with ovarian germ cell tumor
Abstract
A high cure
rate of ovarian germ cell tumors was achieved by establishment of a
cisplatin-containing regimen. We encountered a rare case of a
33-year-old, nulligravida Japanese woman with systemic thromboembolism
following anti-cancer chemotherapy with cisplatin, etoposide, and
bleomycin in ovarian germ cell tumor. She suffered from brain
infarction, multiple embolisms in the bilateral pulmonary artery and
pelvic vein, and a broad range of deep vein thromboses in the right
extremities vein. When thrombosis is detected during anti-cancer
chemotherapy, we must investigate whether the presence of thrombosis is
systemic or local.
Identifying women with undetected ovarian cancer: independent and external validation of QCancer® (Ovarian) prediction model
Identifying women with undetected ovarian cancer: independent and external validation of QCancer® (Ovarian) prediction model
Early identification of ovarian cancer is an unresolved challenge and the predictive value of single symptoms is limited. We evaluated the performance of QCancer® (Ovarian) prediction model for predicting the risk of ovarian cancer in a UK cohort of general practice patients. A total of 1.1 million patients registered with a general practice surgery between 1 January 2000 and 30 June 2008, aged 30–84 years with 735 ovarian cancer cases, were included in the analysis. Ovarian cancer was defined as incident diagnosis of ovarian cancer during the 2 years after study entry. The results from this independent and external validation of QCancer® (Ovarian) prediction model demonstrated good performance on a large cohort of general practice patients. QCancer® (Ovarian) had very good discrimination with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.86 and explained 59.9% of the variation. QCancer® (Ovarian) was well calibrated across all tenths of risk and over all age. The 10% of women with the highest predicted risks included 64% of all ovarian cancer diagnoses over the next 2 years. QCancer® (Ovarian) appears to be a useful tool for identifying undetected cases of ovarian cancer in primary care in the UK for early referral and investigation.
Canadians Could Gain 70 Million Hours per Year with Health IT: Conference Board of Canada
Blogger's Note: while this is being discussed, Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre, Toronto via mychart.ca already has an excellent portal in place - so this begs the question as to just where is everyone else?? A little slow on the IT uptake!
Canadians Could Gain 70 Million Hours per Year with Health IT: Conference Board of Canada
NCI: (PARP Inhibitors/BRCA/non-BRCA) Study Reveals New Mechanism of Action for Class of Targeted Therapy
NCI Cancer Bulletin for November 13, 2012 - National Cancer Institute
Study Reveals New Mechanism of Action for Class of Targeted Therapy
Researchers have discovered a new way in which PARP inhibitors block cancer cell growth. The researchers also have found that three experimental PARP inhibitors, which were presumed to have similar activities, vary widely in their ability to kill cancer cells. The study, led by Dr. Yves Pommier of the Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology in NCI’s Center for Cancer Research, was published November 1 in Cancer Research.PARP inhibitors have shown promising anticancer activity against breast and ovarian cancers in women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations. The drugs were believed to block cancer cell growth by inhibiting the activity of PARP proteins, which help repair damaged DNA. Therefore, drugs with similar levels of PARP inhibition should have comparable anticancer effects. However, studies have indicated that treating cells with a PARP inhibitor causes more toxicity than would be achieved simply by loss of PARP activity, suggesting that these drugs may have a second mechanism of action.
The researchers showed that PARP inhibitors can also trap PARP proteins at sites of DNA damage, forming PARP-DNA complexes that are toxic to cells. The strength of the trapped PARP-DNA complexes correlated with a drug’s ability to kill cancer cells and varied widely between the three tested PARP inhibitors, which are currently being studied in clinical trials.
“While PARP inhibitors had been assumed to be of equivalent potency based on the degree to which they elicit PARP inhibition, we now know that they are not equivalent with respect to their potency to trap PARP,” said Dr. Pommier in a news release.
The new study also showed that PARP inhibition and PARP trapping are not directly related. Olaparib (AZD2281) was the most potent PARP inhibitor followed by veliparib (ABT-888) and then niraparib (MK-4827).
In contrast, cells treated with niraparib or olaparib formed the most potent PARP-DNA complexes. When combined with a DNA alkylating agent, niraparib and olaparib also were much more toxic to cancer cells than veliparib.
“Our findings suggest that clinicians who use PARP inhibitors in clinical trials should carefully choose their drug, because we now suspect results may differ, depending upon the PARP inhibitor used,” said first author Dr. Junko Murai, in a news release.
The researchers also investigated the effects of these PARP inhibitors on 30 cell lines that had different DNA repair genes inactivated. The results confirmed that cells without BRCA1 or BRCA2 function are more sensitive than normal cells to PARP inhibition. The study also revealed other genes not previously implicated in sensitizing cells to PARP inhibitors. These results may help determine which tumors are most likely to be susceptible to PARP inhibition.
(2011) Prognostic factors for survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer: meta-analysis - open access
open access: Physicians’ Use of Patients’ Daily Reports of Quality of Life to Evaluate Treatment Response in Phase I Cancer Trials
JCT_Medicine & Healthcare_Journals_SCIRP
"Although physicians rated QOL as being very important in evaluating treatment response, in practice, when predictors of their decisions were analyzed, results showed they relied exclusively on biomedical data (Toxicity, Imaging) to make Phase I treatment decisions. Questions remain about the utility and effective integration of QOL and biomedical data in clinical decision-making processes in Phase I clinical trials."
Monday, November 12, 2012
open access: CA125-producing Clear Cell Adenocarcinoma Arising From the Upper Ureter and Renal Pelvis
CA125-producing Clear Cell AdenocarcinomaArising From the Upper Ureter and Renal Pelvis
Clear cell adenocarcinomas similar to those found in the female genital organs can arise in the lower urinary tract of
both women and men. Clear cell adenocarcinomas occurring in the upper urinary system are exceedingly rare. Here, we
present a case of clear cell adenocarcinoma arising from the upper ureter and renal pelvis of a postmenopausal woman
with a ureteral stone. The patient had elevated serum levels of cancer antigen (CA) 125 (103.80 U/mL) and CA19-9
(151.96 U/mL). The tumor showed typical features of tubulopapillary structures lined with clear-to-eosinophilic cytoplasm
and frequent hobnail configuration. The tumor cells were immunoreactive for cytokeratin 7, cytokeratin 20, carcinoembryonic
antigen and CA125, but negative for PAX-2 and α-methylacyl coenzyme A racemase. Given the presence of intestinal
and squamous metaplasia of the adjacent urothelium, we propose that this clear cell adenocarcinoma developed
through a metaplastic process. The tumor behaved so aggressively that the patient developed multiple metastases and
died of the disease 5 months after radical nephroureterectomy. [J Chin Med Assoc 2010;73(1):40–43]
Ottawa glorifies veterans — as long as they don’t cost anything - thestar.com
Ottawa glorifies veterans — as long as they don’t cost anything - thestar.com
"So go and fight for your country. If you die, you will be briefly praised. If you live — well, best of luck."
paywalled: A meta-analysis of hospital 30-day avoidable readmission rates
A meta-analysis of hospital 30-day avoidable readmission rates
Conclusions
Less than one in four readmissions were deemed avoidable. Health system
planners need to use caution in interpreting all cause readmission
statistics as they are only partially influenced by quality of care.
open access: Prevalence of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells Correlates with Recurrence in Early-Stage Ovarian Cancer
Prevalence of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Stem Cells Correlates with Recurrence in Early-Stage Ovarian Cancer
"This study suggests that quantification of the number of EOC stem cells in the tumor can be used as a predictor of disease and could be applied for treatment selection in early-stage ovarian cancer."
"3.6. Correlation between the Number of CD44+ EOC Stem Cells and Progression-Free Survival Although a majority of patients with early-stage ovarian cancer respond to treatment and have a good prognosis, 10% of these patients will recur in spite of appropriate debulking and chemotherapy....
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