The lancet oncology
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The lancet oncology · Feb 2015
Multicenter StudySunitinib in patients with chemotherapy-refractory thymoma and thymic carcinoma: an open-label phase 2 trial.
No standard treatments are available for advanced thymic epithelial tumours after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy. We investigated the activity of sunitinib, an orally administered tyrosine kinase inhibitor. ⋯ National Cancer Institute (Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program).
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The lancet oncology · Feb 2015
ReviewFamilial gastric cancer: genetic susceptibility, pathology, and implications for management.
Familial gastric cancer comprises at least three major syndromes: hereditary diffuse gastric cancer, gastric adenocarcinoma and proximal polyposis of the stomach, and familial intestinal gastric cancer. The risk of development of gastric cancer is high in families affected b-y these syndromes, but only hereditary diffuse gastric cancer is genetically explained (caused by germline alterations of CDH1, which encodes E-cadherin). Gastric cancer is also associated with a range of several cancer-associated syndromes with known genetic causes, such as Lynch, Li-Fraumeni, Peutz-Jeghers, hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndromes, familial adenomatous polyposis, and juvenile polyposis. We present contemporary knowledge on the genetics, pathogenesis, and clinical features of familial gastric cancer, and discuss research and technological developments, which together are expected to open avenues for new genetic testing approaches and novel therapeutic strategies.
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The lancet oncology · Feb 2015
ReviewCarbon ion radiotherapy in Japan: an assessment of 20 years of clinical experience.
Charged particle therapy is generally regarded as cutting-edge technology in oncology. Many proton therapy centres are active in the USA, Europe, and Asia, but only a few centres use heavy ions, even though these ions are much more effective than x-rays owing to the special radiobiological properties of densely ionising radiation. The National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) Chiba, Japan, has been treating cancer with high-energy carbon ions since 1994. ⋯ In addition to those tumours for which carbon ions are known to produce excellent results, such as bone and soft-tissue sarcoma of the skull base, head and neck, and pelvis, promising data were obtained for other tumours, such as locally recurrent rectal cancer and pancreatic cancer. The most serious impediment to the worldwide spread of heavy ion therapy centres is the high initial capital cost. The 20 years of clinical experience at NIRS can help guide strategic decisions on the design and construction of new heavy ion therapy centres.
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The lancet oncology · Feb 2015
Building a global consensus approach to chordoma: a position paper from the medical and patient community.
Chordomas are very rare bone malignant tumours that have had a shortage of effective treatments for a long time. New treatments are now available for both the local and the metastatic phase of the disease, but the degree of uncertainty in selecting the most appropriate treatment remains high and their adoption remains inconsistent across the world, resulting in suboptimum outcomes for many patients. ⋯ ESMO also hosted a parallel consensus meeting on chordoma that included more than 40 chordoma experts from several disciplines and from both sides of the Atlantic, with the contribution and sponsorship of the Chordoma Foundation, a global patient advocacy group. The consensus reached at that meeting is shown in this position paper.
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The lancet oncology · Feb 2015
Comparative StudyDisease-free survival after complete mesocolic excision compared with conventional colon cancer surgery: a retrospective, population-based study.
Application of the principles of total mesorectal excision to colon cancer by undertaking complete mesocolic excision (CME) has been proposed to improve oncological outcomes. We aimed to investigate whether implementation of CME improved disease-free survival compared with conventional colon resection. ⋯ Tvergaards Fund and Edgar and Hustru Gilberte Schnohrs Fund.