Literature Selection / Selezione della Letteratura

• Powles TJ et al.: "Twenty-year follow-up of the Royal Marsden randomized, double-blinded tamoxifen breast cancer prevention trial", J Natl Cancer Inst 2007 Feb 21;99(4):283-90
• Demonty G et al.: "Progress and new standards of care in the management of HER-2 positive breast cancer", Eur J Cancer. 2007 Feb; 43(3): 497-509
• Sanna G et al.: "Breast cancer in Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma survivors", Ann Oncol. 2007 Feb;18(2):288-92
• Boccardo F et al.: "Switching to an aromatase inhibitor provides mortality benefit in early breast carcinoma : pooled analysis of 2 consecutive trials", Cancer. 2007 Feb 12; [Epub ahead of print]
• Jagsi R et al.: "Rates of myocardial infarction and coronary artery disease and risk factors in patients treated with radiation therapy for early-stage breast cancer", Cancer. 2007 Feb 15;109(4):650-7
• Hershman D et al.: "Acute Myeloid Leukemia or Myelodysplastic Syndrome Following Use of Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factors During Breast Cancer Adjuvant Chemotherapy", J Natl Cancer Inst 2007 Feb, 99 (3): 196-205
• Pappo I et al: "Breast cancer in the elderly: Histological, hormonal and surgical characteristics", Breast. 2007 Feb;16(1):60-67
• Mutrie N et al.: "Benefits of supervised group exercise programme for women being treated for early stage breast cancer: pragmatic randomised controlled trial", BMJ. 2007 Feb 16; [Epub ahead of print]
• Dummin LJ et al.: "Prediction of breast tumor size by mammography and sonography - A breast screen experience", Breast. 2007 Feb;16(1):38-46

Editorial / Editoriale

• "Effect on disease-free survival of concurrent vs. sequential chemotherapy and radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery for stage I-II breast cancer" - Alain Toledano,  Department of Radiation Oncology, Henry Kaplan, Hopital Bretonneau, Tours, France

"In high-risk breast cancer, concurrent administration of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy is feasible using selected drugs that may not have cumulative toxic effects with RT. Such a scheme may have the advantage of providing synergistic effect on tumor response and shortening the delay in the start of RT with survival benefits. In 1996, our French randomized multicenter phase III trial (ARCOSEIN) was thus initiated to compare the effect on disease-free survival of concurrent vs. sequential 5-Fluorouracil, novantrone, cyclophosphamide (FNC) chemotherapy and radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery for stage I-II breast cancer. The current analysis of this trial, with a median follow-up time of 5 years, showed no statistically significant difference in the rates of freedom from any event, freedom from distant metastasis, or overall survival between sequential and concurrent radiochemotherapy after breast-conserving surgery for stage I - II breast cancer.However, there was a higher risk of local recurrence in node-positive women treated with chemotherapy first and radiotherapy.Two other randomized trials directly compared sequential and concomitant chemoradiotherapy programs. A study by a consortium of French national cancer centers and an Italian study, Arcangeli et al., recently reported a randomized trial comparing sequential and concurrent CMF regimen with radiotherapy in a 206 patients-study with 5 years follow-up. They concluded that concurrent administration of CMF chemotherapy and radiotherapy was safe and might be reserved for patients at high risk of local recurrence, such as those with positive surgical margins or larger tumor diameters. In our randomised study, we find an advantage in DFS not to delay irradiation for node positive breast cancer, with a no standard concurrent chemotherapy regimen well tolerated. These benefits have come at the expense of increase grade 2 or greater late toxicity,  without need for significant interruptions or dose reductions (...)" . (Comment on paper: Toledano A et al.: "Phase III trial of concurrent or sequential adjuvant chemoradiotherapy after conservative surgery for early-stage breast cancer: final results of the ARCOSEIN trial", J Clin Oncol. 2007 Feb 1;25(4):405-10)

Press Releases / Comunicati stampa  

• "Gene Expression Test Reveals ER and HER-2 Status of Breast Tumors. Researchers Progress Toward Genetically Guided Treatment for Cancer"  - The University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
• "FDA Clears Breast Cancer Specific Molecular Prognostic Test" - U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health & Human Services
• "International study points to new breast cancer-susceptibility gene" - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

Calendar of Events / Prossimi Eventi Senologici

• 4th Annual Orlando Breast Cancer Conference", Mar 31 - Apr 1, 2007, Orlando, FL, USA
• 1st Interconference Breast Cancer Meeting, 19-22 April, 2007, Sarajevo - Bosnia and Herzegovina

Literature Selection / Selezione della Letteratura

• Pfannenberg C et al.: "Prospective comparison of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography and whole-body magnetic resonance imaging in staging of advanced malignant melanoma", Eur J Cancer 2007 Feb; 43 (3): 557-564
• Jacobsen NE et al.: "Open versus laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: a prospective comparison of postoperative urinary incontinence rates", J Urol. 2007 Feb;177(2):615-9
• Zelefsky MJ et al.: "Multi-institutional analysis of long-term outcome for stages T1-T2 prostate cancer treated with permanent seed implantation", Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2007 Feb 1;67(2):327-33
• Moul JW et al.: "Age adjusted prostate specific antigen and prostate specific antigen velocity cut points in prostate cancer screening", J Urol. 2007 Feb;177(2):499-503
• Secin FP et al.: "Bilateral cavernous nerve interposition grafting during radical retropubic prostatectomy: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center experience", J Urol. 2007 Feb;177(2):664-8
• Jacinto AA et al.: "Salvage radiotherapy for biochemical relapse after complete PSA response following radical prostatectomy: outcome and prognostic factors for patients who have never received hormonal therapy", Radiat Oncol. 2007 Feb 22;2(1):8
• Swerdlow AJ et al.: “Myocardial Infarction Mortality Risk After Treatment for Hodgkin Disease: A Collaborative British Cohort Study”, J Natl Cancer Inst 2007 Feb, 99 (3): 206-214
• Wakelee HA et al.: "Lung Cancer Incidence in Never Smokers", J Clin Oncol 2007 Feb; 25: 472-478
• Arrieta O et al.: “The progressive elevation of alpha fetoprotein for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with liver cirrhosis”, BMC Cancer 2007 Feb, 7:28
• Bruzzi JF et al.: "Integrated CT-PET imaging of esophageal cancer: unexpected and unusual distribution of distant organ metastases", Curr Probl Diagn Radiol. 2007-Feb;36(1):21-9
• Jacinto AA et al.: "Preoperative external beam radiotherapy and reduced dose brachytherapy for carcinoma of the cervix: survival and pathological response", Radiat Oncol. 2007 Feb 22;2(1):9

Editorial / Editoriale

• "Risks associated with opioid use at the end of life" - Russel Portenoy, Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, USA

"Studies that assess the risks associated with opioid use at the end of life are limited.  To determine whether survival after last opioid dose change is associated with opioid dosing characteristics and other factors, a cohort study of 1306 patients treated at 13 U.S. hospices was conducted.  In total, 725 patients received opioids and underwent at least one dose change before death.  Multivariate analyses examined associations between survival after final dose change and other variables, including dose in morphine equivalent mg and percentage dose increase. The mean + SD number of days between final dose change and death was 12.46 + 23.11.  Multivariate models demonstrated a significant association between shorter survival and higher opioid dose, a cancer diagnosis, unresponsiveness, and pain of <5 on a 0-10 scale, but none of these models explained >10% of the variance in time till death.  These data suggest that opioid treatment can explain little of the variation in the time until death among a population of hospice patients.  In this population, survival is influenced by complex factors, many of which may not be measurable.  Concern about hastening death does not justify withholding opioid therapy" (Comment on paper: Portenoy R et al.: "Opioid use and survival at the end of life: a survey of a hospice population", J Pain Symptom Manage.32(6):532-40)

Press Releases / Comunicati Stampa

• "Study recommends greater attention to spiritual needs of people with advanced cancer" - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

Literature Selection / Selezione della Letteratura

• Chen CM et al.: "Alcohol and hepatitis C mortality among males and females in the United States: a life table analysis", Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2007 Feb; 31(2):285-92 - In donne affette da epatite cronica HCV correlata, un intenso consumo di alcoolici aumenta  la mortalità in misura notevolmente più elevata che negli uomini
• Legro RS et al.: "Clomiphene, metformin, or both for infertility in the polycystic ovary syndrome", N Engl J Med 2007; 356:551-566 - Il clomifene è superiore alla metformina nel trattamento dell'infertilità in pazienti con sindrome dell'ovaio policistico
• Canonico M et al.: "Hormone therapy and venous thromboembolism among postmenopausal women: impact of the route of estrogen administration and progestogens: the ESTHER study", Circulation. 2007 Feb 20;115(7):840-5 - In donne in postmenopausa, la terapia estrogenica sostitutiva per via transdermica non aumenta il rischio di tromboembolismo venoso, contrariamente a quella orale