Preliminary cancer therapy (chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone/endocrine therapy, immunotherapy, hyperthermia, etc.) that precedes a necessary second modality of treatment.

Drug therapy given to augment or stimulate some other form of treatment such as surgery or radiation therapy. Adjuvant chemotherapy is commonly used in the therapy of cancer and can be administered before or after the primary treatment.

Excision of part (partial) or all (total) of the esophagus. (Dorland, 28th ed)

Combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy given to augment some other form of treatment such as surgery. It is commonly used in the therapy of cancer.

Radiotherapy given to augment some other form of treatment such as surgery or chemotherapy. Adjuvant radiotherapy is commonly used in the therapy of cancer and can be administered before or after the primary treatment.

Tumors or cancer of the RECTUM.

The use of two or more chemicals simultaneously or sequentially in the drug therapy of neoplasms. The drugs need not be in the same dosage form.

Tumors or cancer of the human BREAST.

Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.

The treatment of a disease or condition by several different means simultaneously or sequentially. Chemoimmunotherapy, RADIOIMMUNOTHERAPY, chemoradiotherapy, cryochemotherapy, and SALVAGE THERAPY are seen most frequently, but their combinations with each other and surgery are also used.

Methods which attempt to express in replicable terms the extent of the neoplasm in the patient.

Tumors or cancer of the ESOPHAGUS.

A pyrimidine analog that is an antineoplastic antimetabolite. It interferes with DNA synthesis by blocking the THYMIDYLATE SYNTHETASE conversion of deoxyuridylic acid to thymidylic acid.

A malignant epithelial tumor with a glandular organization.

A group of diterpenoid CYCLODECANES named for the taxanes that were discovered in the TAXUS tree. The action on MICROTUBULES has made some of them useful as ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS.

Treatment that combines chemotherapy with radiotherapy.

Period after successful treatment in which there is no appearance of the symptoms or effects of the disease.

An anthracycline which is the 4'-epi-isomer of doxorubicin. The compound exerts its antitumor effects by interference with the synthesis and function of DNA.

A prediction of the probable outcome of a disease based on a individual's condition and the usual course of the disease as seen in similar situations.

Antineoplastic antibiotic obtained from Streptomyces peucetius. It is a hydroxy derivative of DAUNORUBICIN.

A connective tissue neoplasm formed by proliferation of mesodermal cells; it is usually highly malignant.

Substances that inhibit or prevent the proliferation of NEOPLASMS.

An inorganic and water-soluble platinum complex. After undergoing hydrolysis, it reacts with DNA to produce both intra and interstrand crosslinks. These crosslinks appear to impair replication and transcription of DNA. The cytotoxicity of cisplatin correlates with cellular arrest in the G2 phase of the cell cycle.

Tumors or cancer of the PANCREAS. Depending on the types of ISLET CELLS present in the tumors, various hormones can be secreted: GLUCAGON from PANCREATIC ALPHA CELLS; INSULIN from PANCREATIC BETA CELLS; and SOMATOSTATIN from the SOMATOSTATIN-SECRETING CELLS. Most are malignant except the insulin-producing tumors (INSULINOMA).

A cell surface protein-tyrosine kinase receptor that is overexpressed in a variety of ADENOCARCINOMAS. It has extensive homology to and heterodimerizes with the EGF RECEPTOR, the ERBB-3 RECEPTOR, and the ERBB-4 RECEPTOR. Activation of the erbB-2 receptor occurs through heterodimer formation with a ligand-bound erbB receptor family member.

The local recurrence of a neoplasm following treatment. It arises from microscopic cells of the original neoplasm that have escaped therapeutic intervention and later become clinically visible at the original site.

The proportion of survivors in a group, e.g., of patients, studied and followed over a period, or the proportion of persons in a specified group alive at the beginning of a time interval who survive to the end of the interval. It is often studied using life table methods.

Deoxycytidine is a nucleoside consisting of the pentose sugar deoxyribose linked to the nitrogenous base cytosine, which plays a crucial role in DNA replication and repair processes within cells.

Antibodies from non-human species whose protein sequences have been modified to make them nearly identical with human antibodies. If the constant region and part of the variable region are replaced, they are called humanized. If only the constant region is modified they are called chimeric. INN names for humanized antibodies end in -zumab.

The excision of the head of the pancreas and the encircling loop of the duodenum to which it is connected.

Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.

A class of statistical procedures for estimating the survival function (function of time, starting with a population 100% well at a given time and providing the percentage of the population still well at later times). The survival analysis is then used for making inferences about the effects of treatments, prognostic factors, exposures, and other covariates on the function.

Surgical removal of the pancreas. (Dorland, 28th ed)

Graphical representation of a statistical model containing scales for calculating the prognostic weight of a value for each individual variable. Nomograms are instruments that can be used to predict outcomes using specific clinical parameters. They use ALGORITHMS that incorporate several variables to calculate the predicted probability that a patient will achieve a particular clinical endpoint.

Precursor of an alkylating nitrogen mustard antineoplastic and immunosuppressive agent that must be activated in the LIVER to form the active aldophosphamide. It has been used in the treatment of LYMPHOMA and LEUKEMIA. Its side effect, ALOPECIA, has been used for defleecing sheep. Cyclophosphamide may also cause sterility, birth defects, mutations, and cancer.

Remnant of a tumor or cancer after primary, potentially curative therapy. (Dr. Daniel Masys, written communication)

Antineoplastic agents that are used to treat hormone-sensitive tumors. Hormone-sensitive tumors may be hormone-dependent, hormone-responsive, or both. A hormone-dependent tumor regresses on removal of the hormonal stimulus, by surgery or pharmacological block. Hormone-responsive tumors may regress when pharmacologic amounts of hormones are administered regardless of whether previous signs of hormone sensitivity were observed. The major hormone-responsive cancers include carcinomas of the breast, prostate, and endometrium; lymphomas; and certain leukemias. (From AMA Drug Evaluations Annual 1994, p2079)

Transfer of a neoplasm from its primary site to lymph nodes or to distant parts of the body by way of the lymphatic system.

A cyclodecane isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew tree, TAXUS BREVIFOLIA. It stabilizes MICROTUBULES in their polymerized form leading to cell death.

An imaging technique using compounds labelled with short-lived positron-emitting radionuclides (such as carbon-11, nitrogen-13, oxygen-15 and fluorine-18) to measure cell metabolism. It has been useful in study of soft tissues such as CANCER; CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM; and brain. SINGLE-PHOTON EMISSION-COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY is closely related to positron emission tomography, but uses isotopes with longer half-lives and resolution is lower.

The compound is given by intravenous injection to do POSITRON-EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY for the assessment of cerebral and myocardial glucose metabolism in various physiological or pathological states including stroke and myocardial ischemia. It is also employed for the detection of malignant tumors including those of the brain, liver, and thyroid gland. (From Martindale, The Extra Pharmacopoeia, 30th ed, p1162)

The area covering the terminal portion of ESOPHAGUS and the beginning of STOMACH at the cardiac orifice.

Organic compounds which contain platinum as an integral part of the molecule.

A carcinoma derived from stratified SQUAMOUS EPITHELIAL CELLS. It may also occur in sites where glandular or columnar epithelium is normally present. (From Stedman, 25th ed)

In screening and diagnostic tests, the probability that a person with a positive test is a true positive (i.e., has the disease), is referred to as the predictive value of a positive test; whereas, the predictive value of a negative test is the probability that the person with a negative test does not have the disease. Predictive value is related to the sensitivity and specificity of the test.

Cytoplasmic proteins that bind estrogens and migrate to the nucleus where they regulate DNA transcription. Evaluation of the state of estrogen receptors in breast cancer patients has become clinically important.

Care given during the period prior to undergoing surgery when psychological and physical preparations are made according to the special needs of the individual patient. This period spans the time between admission to the hospital to the time the surgery begins. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

Tomography using x-ray transmission and a computer algorithm to reconstruct the image.

The total amount (cell number, weight, size or volume) of tumor cells or tissue in the body.

Molecular products metabolized and secreted by neoplastic tissue and characterized biochemically in cells or body fluids. They are indicators of tumor stage and grade as well as useful for monitoring responses to treatment and predicting recurrence. Many chemical groups are represented including hormones, antigens, amino and nucleic acids, enzymes, polyamines, and specific cell membrane proteins and lipids.

A nonparametric method of compiling LIFE TABLES or survival tables. It combines calculated probabilities of survival and estimates to allow for observations occurring beyond a measurement threshold, which are assumed to occur randomly. Time intervals are defined as ending each time an event occurs and are therefore unequal. (From Last, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1995)

Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.

Removal of only enough breast tissue to ensure that the margins of the resected surgical specimen are free of tumor.

Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.

Carcinoma that arises from the PANCREATIC DUCTS. It accounts for the majority of cancers derived from the PANCREAS.

Complete or partial surgical removal of the prostate. Three primary approaches are commonly employed: suprapubic - removal through an incision above the pubis and through the urinary bladder; retropubic - as for suprapubic but without entering the urinary bladder; and transurethral (TRANSURETHRAL RESECTION OF PROSTATE).

Compounds that are used in medicine as sources of radiation for radiotherapy and for diagnostic purposes. They have numerous uses in research and industry. (Martindale, The Extra Pharmacopoeia, 30th ed, p1161)

Organic compounds that have a tetrahydronaphthacenedione ring structure attached by a glycosidic linkage to the amino sugar daunosamine.

The active metabolite of FOLIC ACID. Leucovorin is used principally as an antidote to FOLIC ACID ANTAGONISTS.

Neoplasms of whatever cell type or origin, occurring in the extraskeletal connective tissue framework of the body including the organs of locomotion and their various component structures, such as nerves, blood vessels, lymphatics, etc.

Used for excision of the urinary bladder.

A malignant neoplasm made up of epithelial cells tending to infiltrate the surrounding tissues and give rise to metastases. It is a histological type of neoplasm but is often wrongly used as a synonym for "cancer." (From Dorland, 27th ed)

Time schedule for administration of a drug in order to achieve optimum effectiveness and convenience.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

The transfer of a neoplasm from one organ or part of the body to another remote from the primary site.

A set of techniques used when variation in several variables has to be studied simultaneously. In statistics, multivariate analysis is interpreted as any analytic method that allows simultaneous study of two or more dependent variables.

Measurable biological parameters that serve for drug development, safety and dosing (DRUG MONITORING).

Histochemical localization of immunoreactive substances using labeled antibodies as reagents.

An invasive (infiltrating) CARCINOMA of the mammary ductal system (MAMMARY GLANDS) in the human BREAST.

Tumors or cancer located in muscle tissue or specific muscles. They are differentiated from NEOPLASMS, MUSCLE TISSUE which are neoplasms composed of skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscle tissue, such as MYOSARCOMA or LEIOMYOMA.

Specific proteins found in or on cells of progesterone target tissues that specifically combine with progesterone. The cytosol progesterone-receptor complex then associates with the nucleic acids to initiate protein synthesis. There are two kinds of progesterone receptors, A and B. Both are induced by estrogen and have short half-lives.

Antibodies produced by a single clone of cells.

A sarcoma originating in bone-forming cells, affecting the ends of long bones. It is the most common and most malignant of sarcomas of the bones, and occurs chiefly among 10- to 25-year-old youths. (From Stedman, 25th ed)

A infiltrating (invasive) breast cancer, relatively uncommon, accounting for only 5%-10% of breast tumors in most series. It is often an area of ill-defined thickening in the breast, in contrast to the dominant lump characteristic of ductal carcinoma. It is typically composed of small cells in a linear arrangement with a tendency to grow around ducts and lobules. There is likelihood of axillary nodal involvement with metastasis to meningeal and serosal surfaces. (DeVita Jr et al., Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology, 3d ed, p1205)

Cyclic hydrocarbons that contain multiple rings and share one or more atoms.

Tumors or cancer of the LUNG.

Antitumor alkaloid isolated from Vinca rosea. (Merck, 11th ed.)

Organic compounds containing the -CN radical. The concept is distinguished from CYANIDES, which denotes inorganic salts of HYDROGEN CYANIDE.

A CELL CYCLE and tumor growth marker which can be readily detected using IMMUNOCYTOCHEMISTRY methods. Ki-67 is a nuclear antigen present only in the nuclei of cycling cells.

Surgical procedure to remove one or both breasts.

Compounds which inhibit or antagonize the biosynthesis or actions of androgens.