ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to determine whether psychological intervention had a beneficial effect on the quality of life and behaviour of women diagnosed with breast cancer. 36 consecutive patients with non-metastatic breast cancer assigned to surgery and systemic chemotherapy were randomised to receive either psychological intervention (weekly cognitive individual psychotherapy and bimonthly family counselling) or standard follow-up. Personality (16-PF and IIQ), quality of life (FLIC), and depression (BDI) scores were the endpoints for this study, and the questionnaires were completed by the patients at diagnosis, and up to 9 months after diagnosis. Cognitive psychotherapy and family counselling improved both depression and quality of life indexes compared with the control group. Better emotional coping behaviours were also revealed by some changes in personality traits in the intervention group.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms/psychology , Cognitive Behavioral Therapy , Family Therapy , Quality of Life , Adult , Aged , Analysis of Variance , Breast Neoplasms/therapy , Depression , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Middle Aged , Personality Assessment , Prospective Studies , Self ConceptABSTRACT
We evaluated the prognostic value of tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA), cathepsin D and pS2 in 267 patients operated for primary breast cancer. Cathepsin D, pS2 and cytosol TPA were independent of each other and of N, T, estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PgR) receptors. Cathepsin D was the best prognostic indicator for disease-free survival and pS2 for overall survival. The simultaneous evaluation of the three parameters was an effective discriminator between high and low risk patients in both N- and N+. Considering that cathepsin D, pS2 and cytosol TPA can be easily measured with reliable methods in small amounts of tissue, we conclude that they are a promising panel of biochemical parameters suitable for the assessment of the risk of relapse in patients with breast cancer.
Subject(s)
Biomarkers, Tumor/analysis , Breast Neoplasms/pathology , Cathepsin D/analysis , Neoplasm Proteins/analysis , Peptides/analysis , Proteins , Analysis of Variance , Breast Neoplasms/mortality , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Middle Aged , Postmenopause , Premenopause , Prognosis , Proportional Hazards Models , Receptors, Estrogen , Receptors, Progesterone/analysis , Recurrence , Retrospective Studies , Survival Analysis , Time Factors , Tissue Polypeptide Antigen , Trefoil Factor-1 , Tumor Suppressor ProteinsABSTRACT
Twenty-eight patients with stage IIIB-IV non-small-cell lung cancer were treated with mitomycin C, vinblastine and cisplatin (MVP) in a phase II--minimax 2-stage design--randomized trial (with cisplatin plus etoposide as control arm). As indicated by the study design, the accrual was stopped after the 11th responder, and the combination was considered as active at the 40% level. Forty-six percent of patients had an improvement of their initial Karnofsky performance score, lasting a median of 24 weeks, and about 38% had a complete relief of symptoms. Hematologic toxicity was moderate to severe in about 50% of patients, and neurologic toxicity in about 18%; no grade 4 toxicity was observed. The estimated median progression-free survival was of 25 weeks. The observed activity and manageability, together with the positive effect on patient quality of life, account for a positive evaluation of MVP as a palliative treatment in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.
