Radiotherapy for thymic epithelial tumours: a review.

Thymic epithelial tumours (TETs) represent a rare disease, yet they are the most common tumours of the anterior mediastinum. Due to the rare occurrence of TETs, evidence on optimal treatment is limited. Surgery is the treatment of choice in the management of TETs, while the role of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) remains unresolved.

Complications after oesophagectomy with possible contribution of neoadjuvant therapy including an EGFR-antibody to a fatal outcome.

Background: Different molecular therapies like the EGFR-inhibiting antibody cetuximab have come into clinical practice. Cetuximab is EMEA-approved for metastatic colorectal cancer and advanced squamous-cell head and neck cancer. Administration is said to be safe and well tolerated with common, usually mild dermatologic side effects.

Characterisation and predictive value of epidermal growth factor receptor status using quantitative real-time PCR combined with immunohistochemistry on non-small cell lung cancer specimens.

The frequency of increased EGFR-mRNA expression was determined in 57 patients suffering from NSCLC by applying quantitative real-time PCR. The findings were correlated with clinical parameters and the immunohistochemical (IHC) markers EGFR, c-erbB-2, c-erbB-3, Ki-67 and p53 on cryostat sections. Of the patients 46% showed increased EGFR-mRNA, 35% revealed an increased IHC-EGFR expression; 16% of the patients showed a combined positivity and 35% a combined negativity when applying both methods, and 17 (30%) of the cases revealed increased EGFR-mRNA without IHC-EGFR expression.

Impact of neoadjuvant chemoradiation on anal sphincter function in patients with carcinoma of the midrectum and low rectum.

Hypothesis: Preoperative chemoradiation for patients with stage II and III midrectal and low rectal cancer may improve survival and decrease local recurrence rate. We evaluated the long-term impact of neoadjuvant chemoradiation on anal sphincter function.

Design: Prospective analysis.