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Volume 6, Number 5 (May 2009) | ||||||||
Letter from the Editor |
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191 |
Our first 5 years The West Clinic, Memphis, TN With this issue Community Oncology reaches a milestone: our fifth year. During that time, profound changes in the delivery of cancer care have continued to unfold, making the practice of oncology economically challenging at times. There have been gratifying successes as well, in scientific and clinical progress.
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Community Translations |
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197 |
Degarelix, a new GnRH antagonist, in prostate cancer Degarelix is a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor antagonist that produces rapid androgen deprivation by immediate inhibition of GnRH receptors in the anterior pituitary gland. Degarelix treatment results in suppression of gonadotropins, testosterone, and prostate-specific antigen in prostate cancer, without apparent testosterone surges. Testosterone surges occurring as part of the initial response to androgen-deprivation treatment with luteinizing hormonereleasing hormone receptor agonists may be associated with stimulation of prostate cancer cells and exacerbation of clinical symptoms. | |||||||
FROM THE ONCOLOGIST'S PERSPECTIVE National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD | ||||||||
FROM THE MEDICAL REVIEWER'S PERSPECTIVE Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD
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Original Contribution |
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207 |
Clinical trial awareness, attitudes, and participation among patients with cancer and oncologists Lung Cancer Alliance, Washington, DC, and Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX Low accrual rates may affect the completion of clinical trials essential to the development of new cancer therapies. Patient and physician attitudes and awareness of clinical trials directly impact clinical trial participation and are critical for the progress of cancer research. We undertook a study to assess the views of oncology patients and physicians regarding clinical trials. The study’s findings suggest that low awareness and misperceptions about clinical trials are key barriers to clinical trial participation among patients. Although multiple factors influence patients’ and physicians’ decisions to participate in clinical trials, better overall communication between patients and oncologists about clinical trials is needed.
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Review Article |
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219 |
Ixabepilone: a new treatment option for resistant metastatic breast cancer The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX Despite the increased efficacy and survival offered by agents such as the taxanes, drug resistance remains a significant barrier to further reductions in mortality rates for patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Epothilones, a new class of microtubule-stabilizing drugs that are structurally distinct from the taxanes, bind to b-tubulin, prevent microtubule disassembly, and subsequently induce apoptosis. Ixabepilone, the first US-approved epothilone analog, is indicated as monotherapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer resistant or refractory to anthracyclines, taxanes, and capecitabine. Ixabepilone in combination with capecitabine is indicated for the treatment of taxane- and anthracycline-resistant MBC. In clinical trials, ixabepilone administered alone or in combination with capecitabine was well tolerated and had activity in minimally and heavily pretreated patients with MBC (overall response rates of 30%–40%). Although ixabepilone-related adverse events are manageable and typically mild, specific nursing interventions are required for patient care, monitoring, and education.
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Practical Biostatistics |
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232 |
Understanding meta-analysis Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Senior Scientist, Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit Baycrest Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Meta-analysis is a method for combining the results of many studies in a systematic and relatively objective way. In our continuing series of articles on biostatistics, Professors Streiner and Norman explain this month’s topic in their inimitable way.
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Brief Communications |
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203 |
Brain metastasis from non-small cell lung cancer: sustained response with erlotinib University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA Brain metastasis is common in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and is associated with a poor prognosis. The mutations in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have been shown to predict response rate and survival in patients with NSCLC who have been treated with erlotinib and gefitinib. In this report, the authors describe a case of complete resolution of brain metastasis and the primary tumor in an 80-year-old woman with NSCLC (adenocarcinoma positive for an L858R point mutation). | |||||||
COMMENTARY Center for Thoracic Cancers, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
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Washington Update |
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237 |
Three pillars of healthcare reform At the sixth annual World Health Care Congress held in Washington, DC, recently, speculation continued to swirl about aspects of healthcare reform, particularly whether the US will wind up with a single-payer system. Discussing three key components of the drive for reform was Nicholas Wolter, MD. Dr. Wolter is chief executive officer of the Billings Clinic in Montana, a group practice with nearly 300 physicians, physicians’ assistants, and nurse practitioners in 35 different specialties, including hematology/oncology.
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© 2009 by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. |
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