Volume 15, Issue 8, August 2010

This article comments on the manuscript of Van Houtven and colleagues in this issue of The Oncologist examining the economic burden of informal cancer care.

This editorial comments on the manuscript of Extra and colleagues in this issue of The Oncologist reporting on the use of trastuzumab for metastatic breast cancer patients.

Results of the Hermine study examining the use of trastuzumab for metastatic breast cancer patients in routine practice, including patients who received trastuzumab treatment beyond progression, are reported. The cardiac safety of trastuzumab in this setting is also reported.

Reported are the results of a multicenter, open-label, single-arm, phase II trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of pazopanib in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 nonoverexpressing recurrent breast cancer or metastatic breast cancer patients.

The use of bevacizumab as a single agent and in combination therapy for different tumor types is reviewed.

Four cases highlighting the reactivation of hepatitis B virus during chemotherapy are presented and the current data and guidelines for pre-emptive management are reviewed.

A case of gastric ulceration from aberrant deposition of microspheres with significant consequences despite detailed pretreatment screening, investigation, and patient selection by experienced clinicians is reported. The mechanisms of gastrointestinal complications and recommendations for prevention are reviewed with reference to the current literature.

An update of the most recent data on the current therapy for pseudomyxoma peritonei and mucinous colorectal adenocarcinoma with metastatic disease confined to the peritoneum is provided.

This study examines the long-term outcome of clinical stage II/III rectal cancer patients treated in a prospective phase II study of bevacizumab with chemoradiation and surgery. Neoadjuvant bevacizumab with standard chemoradiation and surgery shows promising long-term efficacy and safety profiles in locally advanced rectal cancer patients.

The treatment options available to treat recurrent and locally advanced endometrial cancer are reviewed.

The evidence supporting adjuvant therapy in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients is reviewed and key mitigating factors in providing treatment, such as stage of disease and the impact of the new seventh edition of the tumor–node–metastasis classification system, are discussed.

The study reports 5-year relative cancer survival probabilities conditional on having already survived ≥1 years after the initial diagnosis for 11 cancer sites, for patients diagnosed during 1990–2001 and followed through 2006.

This study quantified the economic burden for informal caregivers of lung cancer and colorectal cancer patients, by cancer type, phase of disease, stage at diagnosis, patient age, and relationship, and found this burden to be substantial.

Reported are the results of an open-label, randomized, prospective trial aimed at testing the efficacy and safety of treatment with oral lactoferrin versus i.v. iron, both combined with recombinant human erythropoietin, for the treatment of anemia in a population of advanced cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Attitudes, norms, behavioral control, and chemotherapy patients' intentions to participate in medical error prevention were examined using the theory of planned behavior.

This study assesses the prevalence of taste alterations in cancer patients and their relation to sociodemographic and clinical variables, especially chemotherapy regimens. Furthermore the association between taste alterations and quality of life is investigated.