An Experience of Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy in Obese, Morbidly Obese, and Super Morbid Obese Patients
Haitham M. Al Falah, Saleh M. AlSalamah, Muhammad Abdullah, Hamad H. AlQahtani, Ghanem S. Abbas, Yasir A. AlSalamah
Refining Estimates of Risk for Breast and Ovarian Cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 Carriers
Virginia Kaklamani, MD
Maintenance therapy for metastatic breast cancer prolonged survival but increased hematologic toxicity.
How long chemotherapy should be continued in patients with metastatic breast cancer has been the subject of many clinical trials during the last 2 decades. In practice, patients frequently request "chemo breaks," and physicians often offer them, particularly when disease response has reached a plateau or when treatment toxicity is adversely affecting quality of life. If switching to an endocrine agent is an option, the decision is often less difficult. But when that is not an option, the appropriate duration of chemotherapy is unclear.
Avoiding Chemotherapy in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
Dual targeting of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 produced in-breast pathologic complete remission in 27% of patients.
Capecitabine vs. Gemcitabine for Pancreatic Cancer
Capecitabine was less toxic for patients with advanced, inoperable disease.
Endocrine Treatment Toxicity in Breast Cancer: A Good Thing?
Specific adverse effects were associated with treatment benefit, but further confirmation is needed.
Dabigatran and Warfarin: Comparable Incidence of Bleeding
Dabigatran was at least as safe as warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation.
Intermittent Androgen Deprivation Therapy for Metastatic Prostate Cancer?
A randomized study failed to show that intermittent therapy was noninferior to continuous therapy with respect to survival.
More evidence that the drug-antibody conjugate is effective and safe for patients with advanced disease
The recent FDA approval of the drug-antibody conjugate T-DM1 (trastuzumab emtansine, brand name Kadcyla) had been eagerly anticipated. Its arrival brings to the clinic a novel agent capable of delivering a cytotoxic to its target (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 [HER2]–positive breast cancer) more effectively and with less toxicity than chemotherapy plus trastuzumab or other anti-HER2 agents such as lapatanib (JW Oncol Hematol Oct 23 2012).
Bad Breast Cancer on the Rise in Young Women
In women aged 25 to 39, the incidence of stage IV disease has increased, on average, 2.07% per year from 1976 to 2009; no similar trend was observed in older women.
