Annals of surgical oncology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Intraoperative epidural analgesia prevents the early proinflammatory response to surgical trauma. Results from a prospective randomized clinical trial of intraoperative epidural versus general analgesia.
The intraoperative epidural analgesia (EA) has the potential to reduce stress response to surgical trauma which induces a transient immunoactivation that has a negative impact on the outcome. This study investigates the effect of intraoperative EA versus intravenous analgesia (IA) on the immune function. ⋯ Our results indicate that in cancer patients undergoing major elective colon surgery, the EA attenuates the surgery-induced proinflammatory response and the typical postoperative transient immunosuppression and seems associated with a reduced rate of postoperative complications compared with IA.
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Early identification of inadequate response to preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) may spare rectal cancer patients the toxicity of ineffective treatment. We prospectively evaluated tumor response with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) early in the course of preoperative CRT. ⋯ In this pilot study, FDG-PET at 8-14 days after the beginning of preoperative CRT was unsuccessful at predicting pathological response with enough accuracy to justify an early change in therapy.
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Pleomorphic carcinomas of the lung are uncommon malignant tumors composed of carcinomatous and sarcomatous components and are distinguished from other non-small-cell lung carcinomas by a more aggressive clinical course with early distant metastases and far worse survival. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and p53 are common genes involved in the pathogenesis of non-small-cell lung carcinomas, but their roles in pleomorphic carcinomas are unclear. The potential clinical activity of EGFR-targeted therapy is also unknown. ⋯ The occurrence (23.8%) of EGFR mutations, including the exons 19 and 21 mutations observed frequently in our series, suggests that the patients with inoperable pleomorphic carcinomas are likely to benefit from treatment with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
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The rate of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) has recently increased. The aim of this study is to assess perceptions of contralateral breast cancer (CBC) risk among breast cancer patients and to evaluate tumor and patient factors associated with risk perception. ⋯ At time of surgical evaluation, women with unilateral breast cancer substantially overestimated their risk of CBC; however, this elevated risk perception was not associated with choosing CPM. Early physician counseling is needed to provide women with accurate information regarding their true CBC risk.