Three-field dissection is preferred for upper thoracic or midthoracic esophageal cancer because of improved survival, acceptable mortality and morbidity rates, and good postoperative course and quality of life.
BACKGROUND: It has been reported that treatment with uracil-tegafur (UFT) has shown significantly better survival and relapse-free survival (RFS) than surgery alone. Therefore, we compared UFT with a combination therapy of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) in patients who had undergone curative surgery for axillary lymph node-positive breast cancer. METHODS: A total of 377 node-positive patients with stage I, II, or IIIA disease were registered from September 1996 through July 2000 and were randomly assigned to either 6 cycles of CMF or 2 years of UFT. In both arms, tamoxifen (TAM) was concurrently administered for 2 years. The primary end point in this study was the non-inferiority of UFT to CMF. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference between the two groups was observed with regard to the 5-year RFS rate (72.2% in the UFT and 76.3% in the CMF). Adverse event profiles differed between the two groups, with a significantly lower incidence of leukopenia and anaemia in the UFT group, as well as anorexia, nausea/vomiting, stomatitis, and alopecia, which have implications for quality of life. CONCLUSION: UFT administered in combination with TAM holds promise in the treatment of lymph node-positive early breast cancer. On stratified analysis, the recurrence rate in the UFT group was found to be better in oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive patients. Tegafur-based treatment should be evaluated by a prospective randomised trial conducted in ER-positive patients.
PURPOSE Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a common distressing condition. We investigated the efficacy of smartphone problem-solving therapy and behavioral activation applications in breast cancer survivors. METHODS This was a decentralized randomized trial. Participants were disease-free breast cancer survivors age 20-49 years who were randomly assigned to the smartphone-based intervention or waitlist control. Both groups received treatment as usual. The control group could access the smartphone apps during weeks 8-24. The intervention comprised smartphone problem-solving therapy and behavioral activation apps. The primary end point was the Concerns About Recurrence Scale at week 8. Secondary outcomes included the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory-Short Form (FCRI-SF), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Short-form Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-SF34), and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory at weeks 8 and 24 (trial registration: UMIN-CTR: UMIN000031140). RESULTS The intervention group included 223 participants, and the control group included 224 participants. Primary outcome data were obtained for 444 participants, and 213 participants in the intervention arm completed the week 24 assessment. The intervention group had statistically greater improvements than controls at week 8 on the Concerns About Recurrence Scale (difference –1.39; 95% CI, –1.93 to –0.85; P < .001), FCRI-SF (difference –1.65; 95% CI, –2.41 to –0.89; P < .001), HADS depression (difference –0.49; 95% CI, –0.98 to 0; P < .05), and SCNS-SF34 psychological domain (difference –1.49; 95% CI, –2.67 to –0.32; P < .05). These scores at week 24 were not statistically significant compared with week 8 although the HADS depression score at week 24 was significantly reduced ( P = .03). CONCLUSION Novel smartphone psychotherapy offers a promising way to reduce FCR given the large number of survivors and a limited number of therapists to competently conduct psychotherapy.
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