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      • Radiotherapy

        CT Anatomy for Radiotherapy

        by Pete Bridge

        Knowledge of CT anatomy is increasingly vital in daily radiotherapy practice, especially with more widespread use of cross-sectional image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) techniques. Existing CT anatomy texts are predominantly written for the diagnostic practitioner and do not always address the radiotherapy issues while emphasising structures that are not common to radiotherapy practice. CT Anatomy for Radiotherapy is a new radiotherapy-specific text that is intended to prepare the reader for CT interpretation for both IGRT and treatment planning. It is suitable for undergraduate students, qualified therapy radiographers, dosimetrists and may be of interest to oncologists and registrars engaged in treatment planning. All essential structures relevant to radiotherapy are described and depicted on 3D images generated from radiotherapy planning systems. System-based labelled CT images taken in relevant imaging planes and patient positions build up understanding of relational anatomy and CT interpretation. Images are accompanied by comprehensive commentary to aid with interpretation. This simplified approach is used to empower the reader to rapidly gain image interpretation skills. The book pays special attention to lymph node identification as well as featuring a unique section on Head and Neck Deep Spaces to help understanding of common pathways of tumour spread. Fully labelled CT images using radiotherapy-specific views and positioning are complemented where relevant by MR and fusion images. A brief introduction to image interpretation using IGRT devices is also covered. The focus of the book is on radiotherapy and some images of common tumour pathologies are utilised to illustrate some relevant abnormal anatomy. Short self-test questions help to keep the reader engaged throughout.

      • Oncology
        December 2013

        Mucins and Cancer

        by Joyce Taylor-Papadimitriou, Joy Burchell

        The study of mucins has expanded dramatically as their structure has been elucidated and it has become clear that they play crucial roles in normal physiology and in disease. The characterization of different mucins and the cells which produce them led to the documentation of their expression, not only in normal tissues, but also in many types of cancer, where increased levels of expression can be seen. As a consequence, cell surface mucins have become targets for cancer therapy and have found application as tumor markers. The nine chapters of this book explore the various forms of involvement and variation of mucins in cancer. This overview will encourage further the increasing numbers of collaborations we now see between glycobiologists and clinicians in translational research toward clinical applications of mucin research in cancer management.

      • Oncology
        September 2012

        Molecular-Based Decision Making for Personalized Cancer Management

        by Rafael Rosell

        The main goals of this book are to offer a straightforward guide to the wealth of information on cancer genetics currently available in basic scientific journals, and to illustrate the multiple opportunities for application of this knowledge to daily clinical practice. Dr Rosell has convened a team of international experts to highlight the clinical relevance of molecular genetics and signaling pathways in disease and how this understanding can drive informed clinical decision making. There are seven chapters in the book, beginning with gastrointestinal stromal tumors and moving through melanoma, ovarian cancer, triple negative breast cancer, gastric cancer, lung adenocarcinoma and mesothelioma.

      • Oncology
        April 2013

        Monoclonal Antibodies in Oncology

        by Fatih M Uckun

        Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been developed to improve the treatment outcome of cancer patients undergoing therapy according to multimodality regimens without a significant increase of treatment-associated toxicity. This five-chapter book provides examples where mAbs that have become part of the standard of care in cancer patients and cancer types that have responded to mAbs. Individual chapters devoted to each target cancer type illustrate the importance of recognizing and leveraging the unique features of the respective mAb in order to fully realize their therapeutic potential.

      • Oncology
        June 2013

        Monoclonal Antibodies Targeting EGFR/HER2 and Clinical Outcomes in Cancer Treatment

        by Jan B Vermorken

        Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have rapidly become one the largest classes of new drugs approved for the treatment of cancer – 14 mAbs have been approved by the US FDA for cancer therapy. This book focuses on mAbs targeting EGFR and HER2 and, in five chapters, summarizes information on the use of these mAbs in colorectal cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, genitourinary cancers, tumors of the skin, the CNS and the head and neck, and gynecologic malignancies.

      • Oncology
        December 2011

        mTOR Inhibitors in Cancer Treatment

        by Leonidas C Platanias

        Increased understanding of the mTOR signaling pathway in relation to malignant cells has prompted extensive efforts to develop new therapeutic approaches. The six chapters of this book summarize the current status of efforts using mTOR inhibitors for the treatment of several malignancies. First generation mTOR inhibitors (rapalogues) are now approved by the US FDA for the treatment of renal cancer, and further new drugs may be approved. There is also hope that the second generation of catalytic inhibitors of mTOR that target both TORC1 and TORC2 complexes will be more powerful and effective antineoplastic agents, and clinical trials using such agents are currently ongoing. This book provides a comprehensive review on the emerging roles of mTOR inhibitors in different malignancies in which they have high therapeutic potential.

      • Complementary medicine

        Medicine Hands

        Massage Therapy for People With Cancer

        by Gayle MacDonald

      • Oncology
        January 2010

        Fast Facts: Colorectal Cancer

        by Irving Taylor, Garcia-Aguilar, Robyn Ward

        Early detection is essential if patients are to be offered the best chance of survival from colorectal cancer. Many of the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the development of this disease are now well recognized. In addition, new drug therapies have changed the way colorectal cancer is treated. Fast Facts: Colorectal Cancer delivers concise and highly practical information on all aspects of this all too common disease. This fully updated third edition provides invaluable information for the primary care team, who are key to the screening and diagnosis of the disease, and essential to the provision of optimal support services. Written by three international specialists, this new edition has been substantially revised and expanded, and includes: discussion of the latest therapeutic developments in both the adjuvant and metastatic setting, updated information on the genetic factors that contribute to development of the disease and expert guidance on diagnosis, screening and treatments. Table of contents: Epidemiology and pathophysiology Clinical presentation Diagnosis and staging Screening and surveillance Treatment of the primary disease Large bowel obstruction Advanced and recurrent disease Multidisciplinary management Future trends

      • Oncology
        February 1992

        Advances in Understanding Genetic Changes in Cancer

        Impact on Diagnosis and Treatment Decisions in the 1990s

        by Division of Health Sciences Policy, Institute of Medicine

        The past 20 years have seen a rapid increase in our understanding of the biology of cancer. And, advances in understanding the genetics of cancer are beginning to have an impact on the clinical management of malignant disease. Many of the genetic changes that underlie malignant transformation of cells and/or that distinguish malignant clones can be used as markers to diagnose, monitor, or characterize various forms of cancer. The purpose of this volume is to assess the current status of genetic testing in cancer management both from the standpoint of those tests and genetic markers that are presently available and from the perspective of genetic approaches to cancer testing that are likely to have an impact on cancer management in the near future.

      • Oncology
        December 2013

        Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care

        Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis

        by Laura Levit, Erin Balogh, Sharyl Nass, and Patricia A. Ganz, Editors; Committee on Improving the Quality of Cancer Care: Addressing the Challenges of an Aging Population; Board on Health Care Services; Institute of Medicine

        In the United States, approximately 14 million people have had cancer and more than 1.6 million new cases are diagnosed each year. However, more than a decade after the Institute of Medicine (IOM) first studied the quality of cancer care, the barriers to achieving excellent care for all cancer patients remain daunting. Care often is not patient-centered, many patients do not receive palliative care to manage their symptoms and side effects from treatment, and decisions about care often are not based on the latest scientific evidence. The cost of cancer care also is rising faster than many sectors of medicine--having increased to $125 billion in 2010 from $72 billion in 2004--and is projected to reach $173 billion by 2020. Rising costs are making cancer care less affordable for patients and their families and are creating disparities in patients' access to high-quality cancer care. There also are growing shortages of health professionals skilled in providing cancer care, and the number of adults age 65 and older--the group most susceptible to cancer--is expected to double by 2030, contributing to a 45 percent increase in the number of people developing cancer. The current care delivery system is poorly prepared to address the care needs of this population, which are complex due to altered physiology, functional and cognitive impairment, multiple coexisting diseases, increased side effects from treatment, and greater need for social support. Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis presents a conceptual framework for improving the quality of cancer care. This study proposes improvements to six interconnected components of care: (1) engaged patients; (2) an adequately staffed, trained, and coordinated workforce; (3) evidence-based care; (4) learning health care information technology (IT); (5) translation of evidence into clinical practice, quality measurement and performance improvement; and (6) accessible and affordable care. This report recommends changes across the board in these areas to improve the quality of care. Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis provides information for cancer care teams, patients and their families, researchers, quality metrics developers, and payers, as well as HHS, other federal agencies, and industry to reevaluate their current roles and responsibilities in cancer care and work together to develop a higher quality care delivery system. By working toward this shared goal, the cancer care community can improve the quality of life and outcomes for people facing a cancer diagnosis.

      • Oncology
        July 2000

        Developing Technologies for Early Detection of Breast Cancer

        A Public Workshop Summary

        by By Laura Newman for the Committee on the Early Detection of Breast Cancer, National Cancer Policy Board, National Research Council

        In November 1999, the Institute of Medicine, in consultation with the Commission on Life Sciences, the Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications, and the Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy launched a one year study on technologies for early detection of breast cancer. The committee was asked to examine technologies under development for early breast cancer detection, and to scrutinize the process of medical technology development, adoption, and dissemination. The committee is gathering information on these topics for its report in a number of ways, including two public workshops that bring in outside expertise. The first workshop on "Developing Technologies for Early Breast Cancer Detection" was held in Washington DC in February 2000. The content of the presentations at the workshop is summarized here. A second workshop, which will focus on the process of technology development and adoption, will be held in Washington, DC on June 19-20. A formal report on these topics, including conclusions and recommendations, will be prepared by the committee upon completion of the one-year study.

      • Oncology
        October 2000

        Enhancing Data Systems to Improve the Quality of Cancer Care

        by Maria Hewitt and Joseph V. Simone, Editors, National Cancer Policy Board, National Research Council

        One of the barriers to improving the quality of cancer care in the United States is the inadequacy of data systems. Out-of-date or incomplete information about the performance of doctors, hospitals, health plans, and public agencies makes it hard to gauge the quality of care. Augmenting today's data systems could start to fill the gap. This report examines the strengths and weaknesses of current systems and makes recommendations for enhancing data systems to improve the quality of cancer care. The board's recommendations fall into three key areas: Enhance key elements of the data system infrastructure (i.e., quality-of-care measures, cancer registries and databases, data collection technologies, and analytic capacity). Expand support for analyses of quality of cancer care using existing data systems. Monitor the effectiveness of data systems to promote quality improvement within health systems.

      • Oncology
        July 1970

        El Cancer de Mama y el Medio Ambiente: Preguntas y Respuestas

        Spanish Version

        by Institute of Medicine

        Throughout their lives, women have experiences and make decisions that can influence their chances of getting breast cancer. While we have little control over some of these risk factors, we can sometimes make choices - good or bad - that affect our risk of getting breast cancer. In a 2011 Institute of Medicine report, obesity, alcohol consumptions, and some medical treatments were found to raise these risks at least a little. For other factors, the evidence wasn\'t as clear. Look through this question and answer booklet, available in Spanish, to learn more.

      • Oncology
        March 2004

        Meeting Psychosocial Needs of Women with Breast Cancer

        by Maria Hewitt, Roger Herdman, and Jimmie Holland, Editors, National Research Council

        In Meeting Psychosocial Needs of Women with Breast Cancer, the National Cancer Policy Board of the Institute of Medicine examines the psychosocial consequences of the cancer experience. The book focuses specifically on breast cancer in women because this group has the largest survivor population (over 2 million) and this disease is the most extensively studied cancer from the standpoint of psychosocial effects. The book characterizes the psychosocial consequences of a diagnosis of breast cancer, describes psychosocial services and how they are delivered, and evaluates their effectiveness. It assesses the status of professional education and training and applied clinical and health services research and proposes policies to improve the quality of care and quality of life for women with breast cancer and their families. Because cancer of the breast is likely a good model for cancer at other sites, recommendations for this cancer should be applicable to the psychosocial care provided generally to individuals with cancer. For breast cancer, and indeed probably for any cancer, the report finds that psychosocial services can provide significant benefits in quality of life and success in coping with serious and life-threatening disease for patients and their families.

      • Oncology
        March 2004

        Fulfilling the Potential of Cancer Prevention and Early Detection

        An American Cancer Society and Institute of Medicine Symposium

        by Roger Herdman and Leonard Lichtenfeld, Editors, National Research Council

        This report is the summary of a symposium presented by the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to further disseminate the conclusions and recommendations of Fulfilling the Potential of Cancer Prevention and Early Detection. This report discusses issues including better support for tobacco and obesity campaigns; coordination of programs; joint approaches with the food industry; the need for an explicit consensus national tobacco and obesity strategy; viewpoints of payers; changing Medicare's approach to prevention; private sector payment programs; improvements in applied research and dissemination of results; better science in programs; problems in modifying medical practice; and conflict between individual choice and policy options.

      • Oncology
        March 2005

        Economic Models of Colorectal Cancer Screening in Average-Risk Adults

        Workshop Summary

        by Michael Pignone, Louise Russell and Judith Wagner, Editors, Institute of Medicine and National Research Council

        The National Cancer Policy Board and the Board on Science, Engineering, and Economic Policy convened a workshop in January 2004 on “Economic Models of Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Screening in Average-Risk Adultsâ€. The purpose of the workshop was to explore the reasons for differences among leading cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) models of CRC screening, which public health policy makers increasingly rely on to help them sift through the many choices confronting them. Participants discussed the results of a collaborative pre-workshop exercise undertaken by five research teams that have developed and maintained comprehensive models of CRC screening in average-risk adults, to gain insight into each model’s structure and assumptions and possible explanations for differences in their published analyses. Workshop participants also examined the current state of knowledge on key inputs to the models with a view toward identifying areas where further research may be warranted. This document summarized the presentations and discussion at the workshop.

      • Oncology
        May 2005

        Assessing the Quality of Cancer Care

        An Approach to Measurement in Georgia

        by Jill Eden and Joseph V. Simone, Editors, Committee on Assessing Improvements in Cancer Care in Georgia

        Shortly after 1998, leading members of Georgia's government, medical community, and public-spirited citizenry began considering ways in which some of Georgia's almost $5 billion, 25-year settlement from the tobacco industry's Master Settlement Agreement with the 50 states could be used to benefit Georgia residents. Given tobacco's role in causing cancer, they decided to create an entity and program with the mission of making Georgia a national leader in cancer prevention, treatment, and research. This new entity--called the Georgia Cancer Coalition, Inc. (GCC)-- and the state of Georgia subsequently began implementing a far-reaching state cancer initiative that includes five strategic goals: (1) preventing cancer and detecting existing cancers earlier; (2) improving access to quality care for all state residents with cancer; (3) saving more lives in the future; (4) training future cancer researchers and caregivers; and (5) turning the eradication of cancer into economic growth for Georgia. Assessing the Quality of Cancer Care identifies a set of measures that could be used to gauge Georgia's progress in improving the quality of its cancer services and in reducing cancer-related morbidity and mortality.

      • Oncology
        March 2005

        Making Better Drugs for Children with Cancer

        by Peter C. Adamson, Susan L Weiner, Joseph V. Simone, and Hellen Gelband, Editors, Committee on Shortening the Time Line for New Cancer Treatments, Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council

        The successes that have been achieved in treating childhood cancers stand as beacons against the less dramatic improvements for adults with cancer. Progress began to accelerate in the 1960s and 1970s, as treatment regimens were built up, primarily by building combinations of chemotherapeutic drugs. However the near absence of research in pediatric cancer drug discovery threatens to halt the progress in childhood cancer treatment achieved during the past four decades. Making Better Drugs for Children with Cancer identifies the major issues to be addressed in developing new agents for childhood cancers, the gaps in research and development, and the steps that have been suggested to move the process forward. This report also makes a new proposal to capitalize on today's science to bring new treatments to children's cancers.

      • Oncology
        June 2001

        Improving Palliative Care for Cancer

        Summary and Recommendations

        by Kathleen M. Foley and Hellen Gelband, Editors, National Cancer Policy Board, National Research Council

        It is innately human to comfort and provide care to those suffering from cancer, particularly those close to death. Yet what seems self-evident at an individual, personal level has, by and large, not guided policy at the level of institutions in this country. There is no argument that palliative care should be integrated into cancer care from diagnosis to death. But significant barriers-attitudinal, behavioral, economic, educational, and legal-still limit access to care for a large proportion of those dying from cancer, and in spite of tremendous scientific opportunities for medical progress against all the major symptoms associated with cancer and cancer death, public research institutions have not responded. In accepting a single-minded focus on research toward cure, we have inadvertently devalued the critical need to care for and support patients with advanced disease, and their families. This report builds on and takes forward an agenda set out by the 1997 IOM report Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life, which came at a time when leaders in palliative care and related fields had already begun to air issues surrounding care of the dying. That report identified significant gaps in knowledge about care at the end of life and the need for serious attention from biomedical, social science, and health services researchers. Most importantly, it recognized that the impediments to good care could be identified and potentially remedied. The report itself catalyzed further public involvement in specific initiatives-mostly pilot and demonstration projects and programs funded by the nonprofit foundation community, which are now coming to fruition.

      • Oncology
        July 2001

        Interpreting the Volume-Outcome Relationship in the Context of Cancer Care

        by Maria Hewitt and Diana Petitti, Editors, National Cancer Policy Board, Division on Earth and Life Studies, National Research Council

        Interpreting the Volume-Outcome Relationship in the Context of Cancer Care is a summary of a workshop held on May 11, 2000, which brought together experts to review evidence of the relationship between volume of services and health-related outcomes for cancer and other conditions, discuss methodological issues related to the interpretation of the association between volume and outcome, assess the applicability of volume as an indicator of quality of care; and identify research needed to better understand the volume--outcome relationship and its application to quality improvement.

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