BACKGROUND Five-year survival rates among stage IIIA lung cancer patients range between 2% and 15%, and there is currently no consensus regarding optimal treatment approaches for these patients. The current investigation evaluated survival outcomes among stage IIIA lung cancer patients receiving 2 different treatment modalities, neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by resection versus chemoradiati...

"Esophagectomy timing after neoadjuvant therapy for distal esophageal adenocarcinoma" published in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery (doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2015.09.044) states that 30- and 90-day mortality after esophagectomy for adenocarcinoma in patients with neoadjuvant chemoradiation, is significantly higher in patients with a postradiation interval of 9 weeks or more. The authors suggest ...

The optimal management of borderline resectable pancreatic cancer remains unclear. Neoadjuvant chemoradiation remains the most common approach in the United States, while neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone is also widely utilized and has demonstrated efficacy but there has been no clear consensus about a regimen that would be most beneficial in this setting. We will discuss three abstracts that wer...

OBJECTIVE To analyse the efficacy of short-course (SCRT) versus long-course radiotherapy/chemoradiation (LCRT) as a neoadjuvant modality for the management of lower rectal cancer (LRC). METHODS A systematic review of the literature was undertaken. Selected trials were analysed to generate a summative outcome. RESULTS Seven trials on the efficacy of SCRT versus LCRT as a neoadjuvant modality...

OBJECTIVE We analyzed the effect of neoadjuvant chemo radiation on feasibility and outcomes in rectal cancer patients undergoing laparoscopic resection of the rectum. METHODS This was a retrospective analysis of a consecutive series of laparoscopic resections for rectal cancer from 1998 to 2004 (N=60). RESULTS Eight patients received preoperative chemoradiation therapy (neoadjuvant group) f...

Pancreatic cancer is a malignancy with a very poor prognosis, even when radically resected. In advanced disease chemotherapy has a role in terms of clinical benefit and symptoms palliation, more than survival advantage. Gemcitabine as a single agent is the first-line standard treatment since 1997. Several trials failed to demonstrate a survival advantage of chemotherapy doublets or gemcitabine ...

PURPOSE Phase II trials in locally advanced rectal cancer have shown that cetuximab-based neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy is feasible but without an improvement in complete pathologic response rates. Our goal was to identify patients who would benefit from cetuximab-based neoadjuvant chemoradiation measuring gene expression levels of proteins involved in tumor growth [endothelial growth factor re...

INTRODUCTION To determine the prognostic value of celiac lymphadenopathy for patients with esophageal or gastroesophageal junction carcinomas treated with neoadjuvant or definitive chemoradiotherapy. METHODS The records of patients undergoing chemoradiation therapy for esophageal cancer, who received a dose of at least 45 Gy, were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS One hundred forty-four pat...

Preoperative neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy may be useful in patients with operable rectal cancer, but treatment responses are variable. We examined whether expression levels of circadian clock genes could be used as biomarkers to predict treatment response. We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 250 patients with rectal cancer, treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy in a s...

BACKGROUND: The standard of care for esophageal cancer has historically been surgical resection. However, survival following surgical treatment of esophageal cancer remains poor. In inoperable patients, both radiation therapy and chemotherapy alone and in combination have been used with some success. Consequently, these therapies have been utilized in the neoadjuvant setting to improve palliati...