Citations

We surveyed child neurologists first certified in “Neurology with Special Qualification in Child Neurology” by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) between 2001 and 2010 using a 24-item questionnaire. Respondents (n = 204, 54% response rate) were between the ages of 30 and 59 years (54% male), and 68% completed adult neurology training in a 10- to 12-month, primarily inpatient block. Sixty-two percent of the sample completed subspecialty fellowship training and 82% currently reported practicing within a hospital or hospital-based/owned clinic. Current practice data showed just 3% provide general neurology services to adults. A majority reported using adult neurology residency training “less than weekly” and believed the ideal model for residency training in diagnosis and management of both common and rare neurologic conditions would involve less time in adult neurology and more time (mean 6 months) in child neurology, most prominently in genetics and developmental and behavioral areas.

Purpose In patients with hormone-dependent postmenopausal breast cancer, standard adjuvant therapy involves 5 years of the nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitors anastrozole and letrozole. The steroidal inhibitor exemestane is partially non–cross-resistant with nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitors and is a mild androgen and could prove superior to anastrozole regarding efficacy and toxicity, specifically with less bone loss. Patients and Methods We designed an open-label, randomized, phase III trial of 5 years of exemestane versus anastrozole with a two-sided test of superiority to detect a 2.4% improvement with exemestane in 5-year event-free survival (EFS). Secondary objectives included assessment of overall survival, distant disease–free survival, incidence of contralateral new primary breast cancer, and safety. Results In the study, 7,576 women (median age, 64.1 years) were enrolled. At median follow-up of 4.1 years, 4-year EFS was 91% for exemestane and 91.2% for anastrozole (stratified hazard ratio, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.87 to 1.18; P = .85). Overall, distant disease–free survival and disease-specific survival were also similar. In all, 31.6% of patients discontinued treatment as a result of adverse effects, concomitant disease, or study refusal. Osteoporosis/osteopenia, hypertriglyceridemia, vaginal bleeding, and hypercholesterolemia were less frequent on exemestane, whereas mild liver function abnormalities and rare episodes of atrial fibrillation were less frequent on anastrozole. Vasomotor and musculoskeletal symptoms were similar between arms. Conclusion This first comparison of steroidal and nonsteroidal classes of aromatase inhibitors showed neither to be superior in terms of breast cancer outcomes as 5-year initial adjuvant therapy for postmenopausal breast cancer by two-way test. Less toxicity on bone is compatible with one hypothesis behind MA.27 but requires confirmation. Exemestane should be considered another option as up-front adjuvant therapy for postmenopausal hormone receptor–positive breast cancer.

AbstractAimsPioglitazone, a thiazolidinedione, was approved for treatment of Type 2 diabetes. However, several observational studies suggest an association of pioglitazone with an increased risk of bladder cancer in patients with diabetes. Therefore, we sought to perform a systematic review and meta‐analysis to evaluate the magnitude of this association and the quality of the supporting evidence.MethodsElectronic databases were queried to identify controlled studies of pioglitazone that measured the risk of bladder cancer.ResultsSix studies involving 215 142 patients using pioglitazone were included, with a median period of follow‐up of 44 months. The hazard of developing bladder cancer was significantly higher in patients using pioglitazone (hazard ratio 1.23; 95% CI 1.09–1.39; I2 = 0%) compared with control groups. The risk of bias was moderate across the six studies. Considering an incidence rate of 20.8 per 100 000 person years, the number needed to harm was five additional cases of bladder cancer per 100 000 person years.ConclusionsPatients treated with pioglitazone have a slight increased risk of bladder cancer compared to general population. Patient involvement and weighing treatment benefits versus risks should be discussed with patient toward shared decision. Patients with type 2 diabetes with risk factors, such as family history, smoking, or exposure to certain forms of chemotherapy may need to consider other anti‐hyperglycemic agents. Also, pioglitazone should be discontinued in type 2 diabetes patients with newly diagnosed bladder cancer.

Osteosarcoma is a bone tumor that affects children and young adults. 2‐Methoxyestradiol (2‐ME), a naturally occurring estrogen metabolite, kills osteosarcoma cells, but does not affect normal osteoblasts. In order to effectively target osteosarcoma and improve the therapeutic index of the drug 2‐ME, we have encapsulated 2‐ME in a composite of oligo‐(polyethylene glycol) fumarate (OPF) hydrogel and poly (lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) (PLGA) microspheres and investigated the effect of polymer composition on 2‐ME release kinetics and osteosarcoma cell survival. The in vitro study shows that 2‐ME can be released in a controlled manner over 21‐days. The initial burst releases observed on day 1 were 50% and 32% for OPF and OPF/PLGA composites, respectively. The extended release kinetics show that 100% of the encapsulated 2‐ME is released by day 12 from OPF, whereas the OPF/PLGA composites showed a release of 85% on day 21. 2‐ME released from the polymers was biologically active and blocked osteosarcoma cell proliferation in vitro. Also, comparison of 2‐ME delivery in osteosarcoma cells in culture, shows that direct treatment has no effect after 3 days, whereas polymer‐mediated delivery produces anti‐tumor effects that could be sustained for 21 days. These findings show that the OPF and PLGA polymeric system may prove to be useful in controlled and sustained delivery of 2‐ME and could be further explored in the treatment of osteosarcoma. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 101A: 2491–2499, 2013.

Abstract The determination of HER2 amplification is critical to selecting appropriate patients for HER2 targeted therapy in breast cancer. Dual in situ hybridization (DISH), an alternative to fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunohistochemistry, is now available. To compare the FISH and DISH methods, we tested 251 samples enriched for common or difficult-to-assess HER2 anomalies. Seven samples failed DISH testing. There was a 64% (156/244) concordance between FISH and DISH by anomaly (κ = 0.58, 95% confidence interval, 0.51-0.65; P < .0001) and an 83% (203/244) concordance by amplification status (κ = 0.58; 95% confidence interval, 0.47-0.69; P < .0001). DISH resulted in lower estimates of HER2/ centromere 17 ratios than FISH, and many cases that were equivocal with FISH were normal with DISH. DISH did not detect any case with coamplification of HER2 and centromere 17. Using a cohort of difficult specimens, we observed less than 95% concordance between FISH and DISH. DISH may underestimate the HER2/chromosome 17 ratio, or FISH may overestimate this ratio.

Hypophosphatemia with osteomalacia may be due to a neoplasm that produces fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23), which inhibits phosphate reabsorption in the kidneys. Most of these tumors occur in bone or soft tissue and occasionally in the head, although intracranial occurrence is very rare. This report describes a tumor that caused hypophosphatemia and osteomalacia and was located entirely in the right anterior cranial fossa. Radiologically, the tumor resembled a meningioma; histologically, it was a low-grade phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor, mixed connective tissue variant (PMTMCT). After gross-total resection, the patient's symptoms abated and laboratory values normalized. The authors also studied another PMTMCT initially diagnosed as a hemangiopericytoma that involved the left anterior cranial fossa and ethmoid sinus, and reviewed reports of 6 other intracranial tumors that induced osteomalacia, 3 entirely in the anterior cranial fossa, 2 involving the anterior cranial fossa and ethmoid sinus, and 1 in the cavernous sinus. In older children or adults who have hypophosphatemia with osteomalacia and no personal or family history of metabolic, renal, or malabsorptive disease, a neoplasm should be suspected and an imaging workup that includes the brain is warranted, with particular attention to the anterior cranial fossa. Additionally, because there are some overlapping histological features between PMTMCTs and hemangiopericytomas, it may be helpful to assess tumoral FGF-23 expression by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction or immunohistochemical analysis in patients with oncogenic osteomalacia from an intracranial tumor diagnosed as, or resembling, hemangiopericytoma.