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Approximately 5% of elderly patients will have translocation (8;21) or inversion (16) upon cytogenetic evaluation. In a retrospective review of the outcomes for 147 elderly (> 60 years), patients with one or the other of these changes, complete remission after aggressive induction therapy was achieved in 88%. Aggressive postremission therapy was associated with better leukemia-free survival, but optimal strategies for this subset of patients remain to be developed.
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Symptoms of ovarian cancer are often non-specific and commonly encountered in the community. In this case-control, retrospective review conducted in a primary care setting, seven symptoms were shown to have predictive value, often up to a year prior to diagnosis.
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The role of clinical breast examination remains controversial. A review of data from the Ontario Breast Cancer Screening Program reveals that cancer detection rates and sensitivity were higher, as were the abnormal call rates and false positive rates among centers that offered CBE in addition to mammography compared to centers that offered mammography alone.
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Formal criteria for a complete response (CR) in multiple myeloma (MM) require a bone-marrow (BM) examination showing < 5% plasma cells. It remains unclear whether a BM evaluation is necessary after normalization of the monoclonal (M) protein from the serum and/or urine by immunofixation.
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In a series of 600 consecutive patients with gastroesophageal cancer, older patient age was associated with more frequent surgical complications and shorter overall survival.
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Depression and pregnancy, new vaccine recommendations from the CDC, cortico-steroids and/or antivirals for Bell's palsy, rasagiline and Parkinson's disease, and FDA Actions.
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The timing of mitral valve surgery in patients with severe organic mitral regurgitation (MR), but without symptoms, is controversial.
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Current indications for cardiac-resynchronization therapy (CRT) require that patients have New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III or Class IV heart-failure symptoms. However, long-standing ventricular dyssynchrony can lead to left-ventricular remodeling and decreased left-ventricular ejection fraction.
