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Although the incidence of gastric adenocarcinoma in the United States has declined steadily since the early 1900s, it remains a significant health problem. Progress has been made during the past few decades in several areas: Lymph node staging has been refined, perioperative mortality has fallen, and plausible adjuvant therapy has emerged. Currently, complete surgical resection is the mainstay of therapy because it is the only potentially curative option; however, considerable controversy remains regarding the specifics of a surgical approach. This article examines 4 major controversies in the management of gastric cancer: extent of gastric resection, role of extended lymph node dissection, value of elective splenectomy for proximal gastric lesions, and current state of adjuvant therapy. Pertinent retrospective and prospective studies are reviewed to help formulate meaningful conclusions.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide and the most common primary hepatic malignancy. It arises on a background of hepatic cirrhosis in approximately 95% of the cases in the United States. A wide variety of treatment modalities have been applied in the treatment of HCC. Liver transplantation has emerged as the preferred treatment for patients with small HCC. Transplantation for patients whose tumors do not exceed the Milan criteria yields results equivalent to those of transplantation for non-HCC indications. Controversy now exists regarding the use of living donors, expansion of selection criteria, and role of adjuvant therapy.

Though cervical cancer incidence and prevalence have decreased in the United States, the disease remains a very important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Current therapy for early-stage disease is surgical with adjuvant therapy being administered according to histopathologic findings. Pelvic radiation with concomitant platinum-based chemotherapy is used to treat locally advanced disease, whereas metastatic and recurrent lesions continue to be difficult to effectively treat and cure. Clinical trials in this latter scenario have suggested that clinical benefit may be associated with biologic therapies. This article focuses on the use of targeted therapies in cervical cancer, specifically evaluating antiangiogenesis and endothelial growth factor receptor–related treatments.

Objectives: Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are standard adjuvant therapy for postmenopausal women with early-stage, estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer. We designed our study to determine whether women initiating adjuvant therapy with an AI underwent baseline bone mineral density testing, as well as what factors predicted adherence with testing guidelines. Methods: Medicare Parts A, B, and D claims were used to identify a cohort of women aged 67 years and older with incident breast cancer in 2006 and 2007 who started AI therapy. Medicare claims provided information about bone density testing, as well as demographic and other treatment data through 2012. We also ascertained which patients were treated with bisphosphonates and studied the relationship of bisphosphonate therapy with bone density testing. Results: Approximately two-thirds of patients had baseline bone density testing. Older age, comorbidity, low income, and black race were associated with lower rates of baseline bone density testing. Testing rates decreased substantially with increasing age from 73% for women aged 67 to 70 years to 51% for those 85 years of age and older (adjusted odds ratio for not being tested, 2.48 [Cl, 2.17–2.82]). The proportion of women who had neither bone density testing nor bisphosphonate therapy increased with age as well. Conclusions: Despite the importance of age as a risk factor for fractures, older women starting treatment with AIs for treatment of breast cancer are less likely to undergo recommended bone density assessment.