Trastuzumab has been shown to be an effective therapy for women with breast cancer that overexpresses the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) protein. In the pivotal metastatic breast cancer trials, cardiac dysfunction was observed in women treated with trastuzumab and chemotherapy. The incidence and severity of cardiac dysfunction was greatest among patients who received trastuzumab in combination with anthracycline-based therapy. Those findings influenced the design of subsequent trastuzumab trials to include prospective evaluations of cardiac effects and protocols for cardiac monitoring and management. The risk of cardiotoxicity has also driven efforts to develop non-anthracycline-based regimens for women with HER2-positive breast cancers.With the increasing use of trastuzumab, particularly in the curative adjuvant setting, the need for a rational approach to the treatment and cardiac management of the relevant patient population is clear. The mandate of the Canadian Trastuzumab Working Group was to formulate recommendations, based on available data, for the assessment and management of cardiac complications during adjuvant trastuzumab therapy. The panel formulated recommendations in four areas:• Risk factors for cardiotoxicity • Effects of various regimens • Monitoring • ManagementThe recommendations published here are expected to evolve as more data become available and experience with trastuzumab in the adjuvant setting grows.

Background The incidence of young-onset colorectal cancer (yoCRC) is increasing. It is unknown if there are survival differences between young and older patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Methods We studied the association of age with survival in 2326 mCRC patients enrolled in the CALGB/SWOG 80405 trial, a multi-center, randomized trial of first-line chemotherapy plus biologics. The primary and secondary outcomes of this study were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), respectively, which were assessed by Kaplan Meier method and compared among younger versus older patients with the log-rank test. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated based on Cox proportional hazards modeling, adjusting for known prognostic variables. All statistical tests were 2-sided. Results Of 2326 eligible subjects, 514 (22.1%) were younger than age 50 years at study entry (yoCRC cohort). The median age of yoCRC patients was 44.3 vs. 62.5 years in patients age 50 and over. There was no statistically significant difference in OS between yoCRC vs. older-onset patients (median = 27.07 vs. 26.12 months; adjusted HR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.88–1.10, P = .78). The median PFS was also similar in yoCRC vs. older patients (10.87 vs. 10.55 months) with an adjusted HR of 1.02 (95% CI = 0.92–1.13, P = .67). Patients younger than age 35 years had the shortest OS with median OS of 21.95 vs. 26.12 months in older-onset patients with an adjusted HR of 1.08 (95% CI = 0.81–1.44, Ptrend =0.93). Conclusion In this large study of mCRC patients, there were no statistically significant differences in survival between patients with yoCRC and CRC patients age 50 and older.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder affecting older individuals. There is inconsistent evidence about the prevalence and incidence of PD in China at present. The aim of the meta-analysis was to estimate the prevalence and incidence of PD and its relation to age, gender, and stage in China. The literature search was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, Chinese Biological Medical Literature database (CBM), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure database (CNKI), Chinese Wanfang and Chongqing VIP database for studies investigating the prevalence and incidence of PD in China from the commencement of the database until August 2012; both English and Chinese publications were included. We estimated the prevalence and incidence of PD using meta-analysis. Thirteen eligible articles were collected. The results showed that the pooled prevalence and incidence of PD were 2 per 100,000 population and 797 per 100,000 person-years. A higher prevalence of PD was found in males than in females (OR 1.29, 95 % CI 1.05-1.57). The prevalence of PD increased with age: the highest was 1,663 per 100,000 in those aged 80 and older. The overall prevalence of PD is lower in China than in developed countries, but the incidence is higher than in some developed countries. Overall, the prevalence of PD appears to increase with age and there are sex differences evident in Chinese individuals.

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