Summary of Key Points Cancer pharmacology encompasses the spectrum of therapeutic issues from everyday clinical treatment to the earliest stages of new drug discovery. Translational research has led to more sophisticated identification of targets that are relevant for therapy, and…
Summary of Key Points Prevalence of Tobacco Use and Nicotine Dependence in Patients With Cancer Approximately one in six American adults is a current smoker. Smoking accounts for one-third of all cancer deaths. In general, patients with cancer have a…
Summary of Key Points Cancer incidence is on the rise in the United States and worldwide. Beyond therapeutics, substantial reduction in cancer mortality necessitates improved understanding of cancer risk, implementation of effective preventive intervention strategies, and early detection of cancers…
Summary of Key Points Approximately one-third to one-half of cancers can be prevented through adoption of healthy lifestyles and avoidance of known risk factors. The findings of several large observational studies from the United States and Europe strongly suggest that…
Summary of Key Points The discovery of cancer susceptibility regions across the genome provides opportunities to understand defining events in tumor development, specifically identifying cellular pathways that contribute to the complex development of cancer. Regions of the genome harboring susceptibility…
Summary of Key Points Policies promulgated by government at the federal, state, and local levels have profound effects on virtually every aspect of the day-to-day practice of oncology. In the face of growing financial pressures, policy makers will continue to…
Summary of Key Points Cancer clinical trials provide the evidence on which sound oncology practice is based. Providing greater efficiency in implementing clinical trials and achieving enrollment rapidly have been major goals of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), cancer centers,…
Summary of Key Points Phase I trials to determine recommended doses and schedules for further testing of new treatments need to be designed to minimize the number of patients exposed to unacceptable toxicity. The use of formal interim monitoring of…
Summary of Key Points The process of conducting cancer research must change in the face of prohibitive costs and limited patient resources. Biostatistics has a tremendous impact on the level of science in cancer research, especially in the design and…
Summary of Key Points Noninvasive medical imaging often is essential to cancer management at multiple times in the course of the illness. Imaging currently is used for screening to detect cancer, characterizing lesions, performing locoregional and systemic staging, providing prognostic…