205,793 research outputs found
EP-1238: Hypofractionated whole-breast radiotherapy in Italy: A survey by the Breast Cancer Study Group of AIRO
No full textPurpose/Objective: In the last two decades a growing interest in the use
of hypofractionated whole-breast radiotherapy (RT) for women with
early breast cancer has been observed.
In the Breast Cancer Study Group of AIRO (Italian Society of Radiation
Oncology) a survey has been carried on in the year 2013 (from the
beginning of January to the end of September) to assess the use and the
characteristics of hypofractionated regimens in Italy
Incomplete pregnancy and risk of ovarian cancer: Results from two Australian case–control studies and systematic review
No full textAlthough full-term pregnancies reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, it has not been conclusively established whether incomplete pregnancies also influence risk. We investigated the relationship between a history of incomplete pregnancy and incident epithelial ovarian cancer among over 4,500 women who participated in two large Australian population-based case–control studies in 1990– 1993 and 2002–2005. They provided responses to detailed questions about their reproductive histories and other personal factors. Summary odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) derived for each study using the same covariates were aggregated. We found no significant associations between the number of incomplete pregnancies and ovarian cancer, for parous (OR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.89, 1.08) or nulliparous (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.75, 1.48) women, nor for the number of spontaneous or induced abortions and ovarian cancer for parous women (OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.82, 1.09; OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.86, 1.36) or nulliparous women (OR = 1.2, 95% CI: 0.6, 2.4; OR = 0.8, 95% CI: 0.47, 1.38), respectively. A systematic review of 37 previous studies of the topic confirmed our findings that a history of incomplete pregnancy does not influence a woman’s risk of epithelial ovarian cancer
Effects of Vinorelbine on quality of life and survival of elderly patients with advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer
No full textCoffee and cancer of the pancreas: an Italian multicenter study.
No full textWhile cigarette smoking is a well-established risk factor for pancreatic cancer, the role of alcohol, coffee and tea consumption remains controversial. In view of this, and because of the limited information on possible environmental risk factors of pancreatic cancer in Italy, we carried out this study. Five hundred seventy patients with newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer and 570 controls from 14 Italian centers were studied. Using a standardized questionnaire, all were interviewed personally about their smoking habits, as well as habitual alcohol, coffee, and tea consumption throughout their lives prior to clinical onset of the disease. Details were also obtained on exposure to potential occupational carcinogens. A moderate association, statistically significant only in women (odds ratio, 2.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.30-3.68), was found between pancreatic cancer and cigarette smoking, but none was observed with alcohol or tea consumption or with any particular occupational exposure. Consumption of 1 or 2 cups of coffee per day was not associated with increased risk; 3 coffees per day increased the risk, but not significantly (odds ratio, 1.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.97-2.30); with consumption of more than 3 coffees per day the increase in risk was highly significant (odds ratio, 2.53; 95% confidence interval, 1.53-4.18). A statistically significant dose-response relationship (p < 0.001) was observed in each sex. The association between coffee use and pancreatic cancer still held after controlling for potential confounding factors such as cigarette smoking or alcohol use, and when the analysis was restricted to nonsmoking coffee drinkers. The results of this study, one of the largest of its type so far published, suggest that a causal relationship may exist between coffee consumption and pancreatic cancer
Diabetes and the risk of pancreatic cancer.
No full textBACKGROUND:
Diabetes and pancreatic cancer are known to be associated, but the cause of the association and whether diabetes is a risk factor for pancreatic cancer remain controversial.
METHODS:
A total of 720 patients with pancreatic cancer and 720 control patients from 14 Italian centers were enrolled in the study. All subjects were interviewed personally and in detail about their clinical history. The diagnosis of diabetes was based on criteria recommended by the American Diabetes Association.
RESULTS:
One hundred sixty-four patients with pancreatic cancer (22.8 percent) and 60 controls (8.3 percent) had diabetes. In the majority of the patients with pancreatic cancer (56.1 percent), diabetes was diagnosed either concomitantly with the cancer (in 40.2 percent), or within two years before the diagnosis of cancer (in 15.9 percent). The association between the two conditions was significant (odds ratio, 3.04; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.21 to 4.17). However, when only patients with diabetes of three or more years' duration were considered, the association was no longer significant (odds ratio, 1.43; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.98 to 2.07). All the patients with pancreatic cancer whose diabetes had been diagnosed before the cancer had non-insulin-dependent diabetes; all but one of the control patients with diabetes had the non-insulin-dependent form of the disease.
CONCLUSIONS:
Diabetes in patients with pancreatic cancer is frequently of recent onset and is presumably caused by the tumor. Diabetes is not a risk factor for pancreatic cancer
Effects of vinorelbine on quality of life and survival of elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell-lung cancer
No full textVinorelbine, a semisynthetic
vinca alkaloid, represents a welltolerated treatment for elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We explored the quality of life (QoL) of such patients in a multicenter
randomized trial that compared
vinorelbine treatment with supportive care alone. Methods: Eligible patients were 70 years of age or older,
had stage IV or IIIB NSCLC that was ineligible for radiotherapy, and had a
performance status of 0–2 (a status of fully active to a status of capable of all
self-care but unable to work). Vinorelbine was given intravenously on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day treatment cycle, for a total of six cycles. QoL was evaluated with European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer questionnaires QLQ-C30 and QLQ-LC13, and the QoL data were analyzed by fitting
a linear mixed model for each QoL scale. Survival curves were plotted and were compared with the Mantel–
Haenszel test. Relative hazards of death and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)
were estimated by the Cox model.
Results: Investigators, blinded to the results,
stopped the trial early because of a low enrollment rate. (From April 1996 to November 1997, 191 of the 350
targeted patients were randomly assigned.) Data from 161 patients have been analyzed. Vinorelbine-treated patients scored better than control patients on QoL functioning scales, and
they reported fewer lung cancerrelated symptoms but reported worse toxicity-related symptoms. There was a
statistically significant (two-sided P = .03) survival advantage for patients receiving vinorelbine; median survival increased from 21 to 28 weeks in the vinorelbine-treated group. The relative
hazard of death for vinorelbine-treated
patients was 0.65 (95% CI = 0.45–0.93).
Conclusion: Vinorelbine improves survival of elderly patients with advanced NSCLC and possibly improves overall
QoL
Toremifene and tamoxifen are equally effective for early-stage breast cancer: first results of International Breast Cancer Study Group Trials 12-93 and 14-93
No full textBackground: Toremifene is a chlorinated derivative of tamoxifen, developed to improve its risk-benefit profile. The International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) conducted two complementary randomized trials for peri- and postmenopausal patients with node-positive breast cancer to compare toremifene versus tamoxifen as the endocrine agent and simultaneously investigate a chemotherapy-oriented question. This is the first report of the endocrine comparison after a median follow-up of 5.5 years.
Patients and methods: 1035 patients were available for analysis: 75% had estrogen receptor (ER)positive primary tumors, the median number of involved axillary lymph nodes was three and 81% received prior adjuvant chemotherapy.
Results: Toremifene and tamoxifen yielded similar disease-free (DFS) and overall survival (OS): 5-year DFS rates of 72% and 69%, respectively [risk ratio (RR)=0.95; 95% confidence interval (Cl)=0.76-1.18]; 5-year OS rates of 85% and 81%, respectively (RR = 1.03; 95% CI = 0.78-1.36). Similar outcomes were observed in the ER-positive cohort. Toxicities were similar in the two treatment groups with very few women (< 1%) experiencing severe thromboembolic or cerebrovascular complications. Quality of life results were also similar. Nine patients developed early stage endometrial cancer (toremifene, six; tamoxifen, three).
Conclusions: Toremifene is a valid and safe alternative to tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with endocrine-responsive breast cancer
Risk of pancreatic cancer associated with cholelithiasis, cholecystectomy, or gastrectomy.
No full textCurrent data regarding an association between cholelithiasis, cholecystectomy, or gastrectomy and pancreatic cancer are conflicting. We evaluated the frequency with which these factors were present in 720 patients with newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer and in 720 matched controls. All subjects were interviewed personally and in detail about their clinical history. Cholelithiasis was present in 126 patients with pancreatic cancer (17.5%) and in 95 controls (13.2%), constituting a statistically significant association (odds ratio, 1.39; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.86); however, considering only the patients and controls in whom the diagnosis of cholelithiasis was made more than one year before cancer diagnosis or interview, the association was no longer significant (odds ratio, 1.04; 95% confidence interval, 0.75-1.44). Cholecystectomy had been performed in 93 patients with pancreatic cancer (12.9%) and in 71 controls (9.9%). When all subjects were considered, the odds ratio was mildly, although not significantly, increased (odds ratio, 1.35; 95% confidence interval, 0.97-1.87); when only subjects who underwent cholecystectomy one year or more before the cancer diagnosis or interview were considered, the odds ratio fell to unity. Gastrectomy had been performed in 28 patients with pancreatic cancer (3.9%) and in 25 controls (3.5%); analysis revealed no significant association between these two factors (odds ratio, 1.14; 95% confidence interval, 0.64-2.05). In conclusion, our study, one of the largest on this topic, has found no evidence for an association between cholelithiasis, cholecystectomy, or gastrectomy and pancreatic cancer
Treatment of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with Protocol TCL 821:a Report of Taiwan Children's Cancer Study Group
No full textThe UN-SUSTAINABLE Match in HCV Recipients. Evidences from the Italian D-MELD Study on Balancing Donor-Recipient Risk Factors
No full textThe UN-SUSTAINABLE Match in HCV Recipients. Evidences from the Italian D-MELD Study on Balancing Donor-Recipient Risk Factor
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