Clinical oncology : a journal of the Royal College of Radiologists
-
Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) · Sep 2010
Efficacy and tolerability of limited field radiotherapy with concurrent capecitabine in locally advanced pancreatic cancer.
Patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) are most commonly managed with chemotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT), which may or may not include non-involved regional lymph nodes in the clinical target volume. We present our results of CRT for LAPC using capecitabine and delivering radiotherapy to a limited radiation field that excluded non-involved regional lymph nodes from the clinical target volume. ⋯ CRT using capecitabine and limited field radiotherapy is a well-tolerated, relatively efficacious treatment for LAPC. The low toxicity and low regional progression rates support the use of limited field radiotherapy, allowing evaluation of this regimen with other anti-cancer agents.
-
Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) · Sep 2010
Prognostic significance of age in the radical treatment of oesophageal cancer with surgery or chemoradiotherapy: a prospective observational cohort study.
To compare the outcomes of stage-directed surgical therapy and chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for oesophageal cancer and to determine if a significant age-treatment interaction exists to guide therapy. ⋯ Overall survival for patients treated with surgery was strongly age dependent around the age of 70 years, and patients>or=70 years with oesophageal cancer should be aware that outcomes after CRT are similar to those after surgery.
-
Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) · May 2010
Gene expression profiles of epidermal growth factor receptor, vascular endothelial growth factor and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 with special reference to local responsiveness to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and disease recurrence after rectal cancer surgery.
To establish a causal relationship between the gene expression profiles of angiogenetic molecular markers, including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), in rectal cancer and the local responsiveness to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and subsequent disease recurrence. ⋯ Analysing VEGF expression levels in rectal cancer may be of benefit in estimating the effects of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and in predicting systemic recurrence after rectal cancer surgery.
-
Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) · Apr 2010
Frequency of opioid use in a population of cancer patients during the trajectory of the disease.
Bearing in mind that Denmark has one of the world's highest legal uses of strong opioids per capita, the aim of the present study was to describe the frequency of opioid use in a complete, population-based cohort of cancer patients at different time points during the trajectory of the disease, and to analyse the influence of different factors on opioid use close to death. ⋯ Judged by the use of opioids, moderate to severe pain is frequent throughout the trajectory of the cancer disease. The frequency of opioid use was in accordance with the frequency of moderate to severe cancer-related pain described in published studies. This completely population-based data set enables analyses of the actual practice regarding cancer patients' use of opioids, and it can serve as a more effective template for the management of cancer pain than the traditional measures, such as opioid consumption per capita, for international comparisons.