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In a prospective, multicenter study, Cristofanilli and colleagues tested 177 patients with clinically detectable metastatic breast cancer for levels of circulating tumor cells both before and after the initiation of various forms of therapy. The response to therapy was followed using standard clinical detection, but blood samples were also collected to determine the burden of tumor cells in the circulation.
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Although safer than traditional colonoscopy, virtual colonoscopys lower sensitivity and efficacy coupled with the increased cost would rule against recommending this procedure at the current time.
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A very simple study appeared in the August edition of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. It dealt with the ability of clinicians to precisely determine the position of the fetal head in the maternal pelvis during the second stage of labor.
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Over the last few decades, technology has existed to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of single-agent and combination chemotherapy on cancer cell lines derived from an individual patient's tumor specimens. However, investigators and clinicians have been frustrated as the fruit of this technologya reliable and reproducible assay to help them treat their patients with the agent or agents most likely to benefit themhas yet to be proven.
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The latest news from the womens health initiative (WHI) includes 3 noteworthy reports: the news release announcing the cancellation of the estrogen-only arm of the clinical trial,1 a comparison of the participants in the 2 clinical trial arms(estrogen-progestin and estrogen-only),2 and the updated, adjudicated lorectal cancer results from the estrogen-progestin arm.3
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A retrospective study of 396 patients undergoing laparoscopic management for a 7-year period at a single institution was performed. Complications were statistically more likely if hysterectomy was also being performed or if the mass was of a smaller size.
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I review for and subscribe to a journal, Fetal Diagnosis & Therapy, that services predominantly subspecialists in prenatal diagnosis. For example, recently there were 3 wonderful papers on in utero stem cell transplantation.
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A national group of 13 experts participated in a consensus conference sponsored by The Endocrine Society to evaluate the literature on subclinical thyroid disease in order to address the question of treatment. This effort was stimulated by the obvious differences in conclusions and recommendations regarding this clinical problem in the medical literature.