Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Association between sex hormones, glucose homeostasis, adipokines, and inflammatory markers and mammographic density among postmenopausal women
Abstract
"....Interpreting correlations between adiposity-derived factors and mammographic measures whose validity may be affected by adiposity is problematic. To rectify this problem, future studies with very good measures of the volume of fibroglandular tissue in the breast will be necessary."
(2012) Endometrioid adenocarcinoma of the ovary arising in atypical endometriosis
Brief Communication/open access
Discussion
Malignant transformation of endometriosis is
rare but occurs in 0.7%, according to the data
of Nishida et al [2]. They found 1 case of ovarian
malignancy of the 147 cases of ovarian
endometriosis. On the other hand, Stern et al
[8] showed that the incidence of endometriosis
was 5% of ovarian malignancies associated
with ovarian endometriosis. The most common
malignancies arising in endometriosis of the
ovary is endometrioid adenocarcinoma and
clear cell adenocarcinoma. According to
Yoshikawa et al [3], malignancies in endometriosis
are clear cell (39.2%), endometrioid
(21.2%), serous (3.3%), and mucinous type
(3.0%).
Burkitt’s Lymphoma Presented as Advanced Ovarian Cancer without Evidence of Lymphadenopathy: CT and MRI Findings
open access
The updated WHO Classification of Lymphoid Neoplasms (2008) identifies Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) as a highly aggressive and fast growing mature B-cell neoplasm that often presents in extranodal sites or as an acute leukemia. Although the incidence of BL is low, accounting for only 1~2% of all lymphomas in western countries, it is one of the most common types of malignant tumors in children (endemic, sporadic) and immunocompromised hosts [1]. Involvement of the ovary by BL can be a manifestation of a systemic disease or, even more rarely, true primary ovarian lymphoma [2]. We present here the MRI and CT findings of a case of sporadic Burkitt’s lymphoma mimicking an ovarian cancer with associated bone involvement but without evidence of lymphadenopathy. A follow-up CT scan after 4 weeks, following one cycle of chemotherapy, was performed and showed a remarkable reduction of the ovarian lesions but not of the bone ones.
Case Report
We present a case of a 23-year-old nulliparous woman who was admitted to the hospital because of a two-month facial pain, increased abdominal circumference with constipation, pain to her lower left arm, excessive sweating, and weight loss. Abdominal ultrasound showed a large pelvic mass measuring 13 cm in diameter and a small amount of free fluid in the pelvis......
Effect of Noise on Auditory Processing in the Operating Room
Abstract
Conclusions
Operating room
noise can cause a decrease in auditory processing function, particularly
in the presence of music. This becomes even more difficult when the
communication involves conversations that carry critical information
that is unpredictable. To avoid possible miscommunication in the OR,
attempts should be made to reduce ambient noise levels.
A Review of Trends in Attrition Rates for Surgical Faculty: A Case for a Sustainable Retention Strategy to Cope with Demographic and Economic Realities - AMA
Abstract
Conclusions
Greater
attrition in the last 5-year cohort, despite the increase in faculty
positions, is worrisome. A continuous retention life cycle is critical
if academic medical centers hope to compete for talent. Retention
planning should include on-boarding programs for enculturation,
monitoring of professional satisfaction, formalized mentoring of younger
surgeons, retaining academic couples and a part-time workforce,
leadership and talent management, exit interviews, and competitive
financial packages.
Background
Our aim was to
compare trends in retention of academic surgeons by reviewing surgical
faculty attrition rates (leaving academic surgery for any reason) of 3
cohorts at 5-year intervals between 1996 and 2011.
Aggravation of Fatigue by Steroid Therapy in Terminally Ill Patients With Cancer
Abstract
Steroids are commonly used for fatigue
relief in terminally ill cancer patients. However, steroid-induced
adverse effects
including depression, myopathy, and hyperglycemia
may contribute to fatigue.
In conclusion, the possibility of steroid-induced
secondary fatigue in terminally ill cancer patients should be taken into
Patient safety advocate Donna Davis wants patients in diluted chemo cases to be heard (including public comments) - Canada
media - Canada
Wed, 17 Apr, 2013
Donna Davis is a cancer patient, a nurse, and the co-chair of Patients for Patient Safety Canada. She also lost her son as a result of medical malpractice. In the wake of news that nearly 1,200 cancer patients in Ontario and New Brunswick were treated with diluted chemotherapy drugs, Davis told Yahoo! Canada News that in cases where medical safety is jeopardized, it's crucial the authorities listen to the views of those who matter most — the patients.
Once the damage is done, medical staff must be prepared
to deal with more questions and more anxiety from the people in their
care, Davis says. And they owe those patients the chance to speak up
about how healthcare should change.
The New Golden Era for Radioimmunotherapy - numerous solid tumors including ovarian cancer
open access/Medscape
Background: Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) has been approved for the treatment of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas in the United States for more than a decade. However, the history of the development of RIT agents for advanced-stage solid malignancies dates back much further, and recent advances have renewed interest in this approach for solid tumors.
Methods: This paper reviews available evidence for the preclinical and clinical development of RIT agents for solid tumors.
Ovarian Cancer (section)
"Approximately 22,280 cases of ovarian cancer
(OC) were diagnosed in the United States in 2012, with an estimated
15,500 deaths caused by the disease.[15,16]
Approximately 24 RIT constructs have been evaluated in preclinical
and/or clinical studies. Intraperitoneal administration of RIT for
advanced OC was first described more than 25 years ago.[89]
Gynecologic Oncology Center - Oncofertility Clinic | MD Anderson Cancer Center
clinic
Referrals
The Oncofertility Clinic accepts MD Anderson patients only, and a referral from an MD Anderson physician is required. To schedule a consultation, request a referral from your primary MD Anderson physician.Clinic Information
Location: Mays Clinic Building, Floor 6Phone: 1-877-632-6789
Roni Zeiger Talks about His New Startup Smart Patients
New Startup Smart Patients/video
Roni Zeiger, former chief health strategist at Google, is now CEO of Smart Patients. In this conversation at TEDMED 2013, Zeiger described his new startup as an online community for cancer patients and caregivers. But what sets it apart, he said, is the built-in clinical trial search engine that allows users to find relevant clinical trials so that they can discuss them with other patients.....
Smart Patients
Smart Patients
Smart Patients is an online community where cancer patients and caregivers learn from each other about treatments, clinical trials, the latest science, and how it all fits into the context of their experience.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Adnexal Masses: Development and Preliminary Validation of an MR Imaging Scoring System
Abstract
Purpose:
To construct and undertake preliminary validation of a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging scoring system designed for use in pelvic MR imaging performed for characterization of adnexal masses that were indeterminate at ultrasonography (US).
Materials and Methods:The institutional ethics committee approved this retrospective study and granted a waiver of informed consent. The study population comprised 394 women who underwent MR imaging between January 1, 2008, and October 30, 2010, for characterization of 497 adnexal masses that were seen at US. Then, masses were chronologically divided into a training set (329 masses) and a validating set (168 masses). Two radiologists who were blinded to the clinical findings retrospectively evaluated MR imaging criteria for characterization of adnexal masses. In the training set, the positive likelihood ratio (PLR) of malignancy and values were calculated for each criterion. The reference standard was surgical pathologic findings or findings at imaging follow-up of at least 1 year.
Correspondence: Do Randomized Acupuncture Studies in Patients With Cancer Need a Sham Acupuncture Control Arm?
Abstract
TO THE EDITOR:
We read with interest the recently published
study from Molassiotis et al.1 In this article, the authors compared the
efficacy of acupuncture with usual care in the management of fatigue
in patients with breast cancer previously treated with adjuvant
chemotherapy. The authors are to be commended for undertaking a
large, randomized study to evaluate the therapeutic impact of acupuncture
on fatigue. On the basis of their “pragmatic” randomized
controlled study, they conclude that acupuncture is an effective intervention
for improving cancer-related fatigue and quality of life in this
patient population. However, we believe that the absence of an adequate
control such as a sham acupuncture group calls their conclusions
into question........
Specific Adverse Events Predict Survival Benefit in Patients Treated With Tamoxifen or Aromatase Inhibitors: An International Tamoxifen Exemestane Adjuvant Multinational Trial Analysis
Abstract
Conclusion Certain specific AEs are associated with superior survival outcomes and may therefore be useful in predicting treatment responses in patients with breast cancer treated with endocrine therapy.
Mushrooms Provide as Much Vitamin D as Supplements
press release
Newswise — BOSTON — Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have discovered that eating mushrooms containing vitamin D2 can be as effective at increasing and maintaining vitamin D levels (25–hydroxyvitamin D) as taking supplemental vitamin D2 or vitamin D3.
These findings will be presented Monday, April 22, at the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which is being held in conjunction with the Experimental Biology 2013 meeting in Boston. The findings also will appear concurrently as an open-access article in the journal Dermato-Endocrinology.......
Funding for this research was provided in part by the Mushroom Council.
REEXAMINATION OF THE ETHICS OF PLACEBO USE IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
2012 - Bioethics - Abstract
A placebo is a
substance or intervention believed to be inactive, but is administered
by the healthcare professional as if it was an active medication. Unlike
standard treatments, clinical use of placebo usually involves deception
and is therefore ethically problematic. Our attitudes toward the
clinical use of placebo, which inevitably includes deception or
withholding information, have a tremendous effect on our practice
regarding truth-telling and informed consent. A casual attitude towards
it weakens the current practice based on shared decision-making and
mutual trust between patients and healthcare professionals. Issues
concerning the clinical use of placebo are thus intimately related to
patient-provider relationships, the public's trust in medicine, and
medical education. A review of recent survey studies suggests that the
clinical use of placebo appears to be fairly well accepted among
healthcare professionals and is common in clinical settings in various
countries. However, we think that an ethical discussion is urgently
needed because of its controversial nature. If judged to be ethically
wrong, the practice should end. In the present paper, we discuss the
ethicality of the clinical use of placebo with deception and argue
against it, concluding that it is unethical and should be banned. We
will show that most arguments in favor of the clinical use of placebo
can be refuted and are therefore incorrect or weak. These arguments will
be presented and examined individually. Finally, we will briefly
consider issues relevant to the clinical use of placebo without
deception.
Can BRCA Expression Predict Response to Chemotherapy?
text/video; Dr Maurie Markman
(text) Hello. I'm Dr. Maurie Markman from Cancer Treatment Centers of America. I'd like to briefly discuss a very interesting paper that recently appeared in British Journal of Cancer. The paper was titled, "BRCA1 Expression and Improved Survival in Ovarian Cancer Patients Treated With Intraperitoneal Cisplatin and Paclitaxel: A Gynecologic Oncology Group Study."[1]
This is a retrospective analysis of a trial that had previously been reported by the Gynecologic Oncology Group,[2] which demonstrated that patients who were treated with intraperitoneal cisplatin-based therapy had improved survival compared with those individuals treated with cisplatin-based intravenous chemotherapy. However, the study results remain somewhat controversial; and even the whole strategy of intraperitoneal chemotherapy remains somewhat controversial because, even though an improved survival was seen with intraperitoneal platinum therapy in patients with small-volume residual advanced ovarian cancer, there's considerable toxicity with this approach.
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Conquer fear: protocol of a randomised controlled trial of a psychological intervention to reduce fear of cancer recurrence
open access
Discussion
If successful, the study will provide an evidence-based intervention to reduce psychological
morbidity in cancer survivors, and reduce overall health care costs due to more appropriate
use of follow-up care and other health services in this very large population.
Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12612000404820
Over-expression of the overexpressed in lung cancer 1 is associated with poor prognosis in epithelial ovarian cancer
Abstract
Background
The
overexpressed in lung cancer 1 (OLC1), a novel tumor associated gene,
is upregulated in several carcinomas. The purpose of this study was to
determine whether increased expression of OLC1 is associated with
epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) that diagnosed in patients.
Methods
OLC1
expression was assayed in 20 normal ovarian and 139 ovarian cancer's
specimens by Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining (IHC).
Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed to determine the
association between OLC1 expression and prognosis.
Results
Western
blotting analysis demonstrated that OLC1 was overexpressed in ovarian
cancers, and immunohistochemistry results revealed that 63 patients had
increased level of OLC1. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of
patients with high OLC1 expression and low OLC1 expression were 24.8%
and 75.2%, respectively (hazard ratio: 21.43, 95% CI: 2.54, 7.12, P
< 0.0001). The 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) rates were
30.1% for patients in the high-expression group and 69.9% for patients
in the low OLC1 expression group (hazard ratio: 17.04, 95% CI: 0.33,
5.96, P < 0.0001).
Conclusions
OLC1
over-expression is an important factor in epithelial ovarian carcinoma
prognosis and can be a potential biomarker for ovarian carcinoma.
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