Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology
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Comparative Study
Hodgkin's disease with a mediastinal mass greater than 10 cm: results of four different treatment approaches.
Management of Hodgkin's disease (HD) and large mediastinal adenopathy (LMA) usually includes intensive chemotherapy (CT) with or without radiation therapy (XT) regardless of stage. ⋯ Results of this study suggest that patients with stage I-III Hodgkin's disease and LMA greater than 10 cm treated with 3 NOVP and XT have results similar to those obtained for a similar group of patients treated with 2 to 6 MOPP or 6 CVPP/ABDIC and XT. NOVP has also been reported to produce limited toxicity in this trial and should be considered as an alternative to MOPP or doxorubicin-containing regimens in treatment of patients with early-staged disease and LMA greater than 10 cm.
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Oncologists, health care workers and health organizations consider well-performed teaching programs in clinical oncology a fundamental step in cancer control. The aim of our study was to assess the views of teachers and students on the present status of oncology teaching in Italian medical schools and on the most common shortcomings in cancer education. ⋯ This survey emphasizes the dualism between students' expectations and teachers' ideas about cancer teaching. Doctor/patient relationships and poor attention to practical clinical problems seem the most critical issues for clinical oncology training in Italian medical schools.
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In phase II studies of the EORTC-ECTG, acute hypersensitivity reaction, edema and skin toxicity were important side effects of docetaxel (TaxotereTM). ⋯ The acute hypersensitivity reaction could be completely blocked in all but in 1 of 14 patients, and this pretreatment schedule had an important prophylactic effect on edema formation. Skin toxicity was successfully treated with an ointment of glycerin and chlorhexidine.
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This state-of-the-art review describes the development, over the past 12 years, of new agents for the control of chemotherapy- and radiotherapy-induced emesis. While the mechanism of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting is still not fully understood, significant progress in prevention of the symptoms has been achieved. The discovery that high-dose metoclopramide was very effective in antiemetic control ultimately led to the development of a new class of antiemetics, the 5-HT3 receptor antagonists, of which tropisetron is the most recent to be introduced. ⋯ The new 5-HT3 receptor antagonists do not demonstrate any of the distressing extrapyramidal reactions so frequently encountered with conventional antiemetics acting at dopamine receptor sites. Mild headache is the most characteristic side effect of this class of agents. The major advantages of the newer 5-HT3 receptor antagonists, such as tropisetron, over the conventional antiemetic regimens are convenience, flexibility and, above all, single-dose usage.