BACKGROUNDAdjustment disorders and major depression are common psychiatric disorders in patients with cancer and have a serious impact on quality of life. The problem in clinical oncology settings is underrecognition of these disorders; as a result, screening is recommended to detect them. The goal of the current study was to develop a new, brief screening tool for adjustment disorders and major depression and to compare its performance with that of existing screening methods.METHODSPatients with cancer completed the newly developed One‐Question Interview (a 1‐item, structured interview); the Distress Thermometer (a 1‐item, self‐report questionnaire), which previously was developed as a brief screening tool; and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS; a 14‐item, self‐report questionnaire). Psychiatric diagnoses of adjustment disorders and major depression were made by psychiatrists and were based on criteria set forth by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition.RESULTSTwo hundred seventy‐five patients participated in the study. Scores on both the One‐Question Interview and the Distress Thermometer were significantly correlated with HADS score (One‐Question Interview: r = −0.66, P < 0.01; Distress Thermometer: r = 0.71, P < 0.01). At the optimal cutoff points, the sensitivity and specificity for detection of adjustment disorders and major depression were 80% and 61%, respectively, for the One‐Question Interview; 84% and 61%, respectively, for the Distress Thermometer; and 92% and 57%, respectively, for the HADS.CONCLUSIONSThe results of the current study suggested that the One‐Question Interview was a valid tool for use in screening patients with cancer for adjustment disorders and major depression. Its performance was inferior to that of the HADS but comparable to that of the Distress Thermometer. The One‐Question Interview may be suitable for widespread use in routine screening. Cancer 2003;10:2605–13. © 2003 American Cancer Society.DOI 10.1002/cncr.11358

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway is frequently activated in human cancers, and several agents targeting this pathway including PI3K/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors have recently entered clinical trials. One question is whether the efficacy of a PI3K pathway inhibitor can be predicted based on the activation status of pathway members. In this study, we examined the mutation, expression, and phosphorylation status of PI3K and Ras pathway members in a panel of 39 pharmacologically well-characterized human cancer cell lines (JFCR39). Additionally, we evaluated the in vitro efficacy of 25 PI3K pathway inhibitors in addition to conventional anticancer drugs, combining these data to construct an integrated database of pathway activation status and drug efficacies (JFCR39-DB). In silico analysis of JFCR39-DB enabled us to evaluate correlations between the status of pathway members and the efficacy of PI3K inhibitors. For example, phospho-Akt and KRAS/BRAF mutations prominently correlated with the efficacy and the inefficacy of PI3K inhibitors, respectively, whereas PIK3CA mutation and PTEN loss did not. These correlations were confirmed in human tumor xenografts in vivo, consistent with their ability to serve as predictive biomarkers. Our findings show that JFCR39-DB is a useful tool to identify predictive biomarkers and to study the molecular pharmacology of the PI3K pathway in cancer. Cancer Res; 70(12); 4982-94. ©2010 AACR.

The result suggests that asking about history of depression and appropriate intervention, including psycho-education, are needed for patients with first breast cancer recurrence in order to detect and manage psychological distress. Although further studies are needed to clarify causal links between psychiatric disorders and QOL, patients' psychiatric disorders were associated with QOL.

Background: Golgi is a potential target for cancer treatment, but no inhibitor became an anticancer drug.Results: Using a unique bioinformatics approach, we identified a novel Golgi inhibitor, AMF-26, targeting Arf1 activation and possessing potent antitumor activity.Conclusion: AMF-26 is a promising new anticancer drug lead.Significance: Our data indicate that Arf1 activation is a promising target for cancer treatment.