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Although previous studies have recognized that timely correction of anemia is desirable, no published research quantifies the association between the timeliness of the hemoglobin rise and patients' outcomes. This study evaluates whether anemic patients with cancer who are receiving chemotherapy and who experienced an early response to epoetin alfa (≥ 1 g/dL hemoglobin increase at the end of 4 weeks of treatment) experienced better clinical and drug utilization outcomes compared with patients who did not experience an early response. Three large, open-label, community studies of epoetin alfa for the treatment of chemotherapy-related anemia were retrospectively analyzed to assess the association of early hemoglobin response to subsequent transfusion requirements, subsequent hemoglobin response, quality of life, and epoetin alfa dosage administered over the study. Two epoetin alfa dosing regimens were evaluated: 10,000 units 3 times weekly with potential escalation to 20,000 units, and 40,000 units once weekly with potential escalation to 60,000 units. In all studies, patients who experienced an early hemoglobin response had statistically lower subsequent transfusion requirements, higher rates of subsequent hemoglobin response, shorter time to hemoglobin response, better improvements in quality of life scores, and lower average weekly epoetin alfa dose than patients who did not experience an early hemoglobin response. Similar proportions of patients experienced early response in the 3-times weekly and once-weekly epoetin alfa regimens. This ad hoc analysis found that early hemoglobin response to epoetin alfa therapy was associated with improved clinical benefits and drug utilization. Early hemoglobin response may therefore be considered as a desired goal of epoetin alfa therapies.

The NCCN Guidelines for Cervical Cancer provide interdisciplinary recommendations for treating cervical cancer. These NCCN Guidelines Insights summarize the NCCN Cervical Cancer Panel’s discussion and major guideline updates from 2014 and 2015. The recommended systemic therapy options for recurrent and metastatic cervical cancer were amended upon panel review of new survival data and the FDA’s approval of bevacizumab for treating late-stage cervical cancer. This article outlines relevant data and provides insight into panel decisions regarding various combination regimens. Additionally, a new section was added to provide additional guidance on key principles of evaluation and surgical staging in cervical cancer. This article highlights 2 areas of active investigation and debate from this new section: sentinel lymph node mapping and fertility-sparing treatment approaches.

Adenocarcinoma of the endometrium (also known as endometrial cancer or more broadly as uterine cancer or carcinoma of the uterine corpus) is the most common malignancy of the female genital tract in the United States. An estimated 49,560 new uterine cancer cases will occur in 2013, with 8190 deaths resulting from the disease. Uterine sarcomas (stromal/mesenchymal tumors) are uncommon malignancies, accounting for approximately 3% of all uterine cancers. The NCCN Guidelines for Uterine Neoplasms describe malignant epithelial carcinomas and uterine sarcomas; each of these major categories contains specific histologic groups that require different management. This excerpt of these guidelines focuses on early-stage disease.

Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN), a subset of gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD), occurs when tumors develop in the cells that would normally form the placenta during pregnancy. The NCCN Guidelines for Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia provides treatment recommendations for various types of GTD including hydatidiform mole, persistent post-molar GTN, low-risk GTN, high-risk GTN, and intermediate trophoblastic tumor.

The NCCN Guidelines for Uterine Neoplasms provide interdisciplinary recommendations for treating endometrial carcinoma and uterine sarcomas. These NCCN Guidelines Insights summarize the NCCN Uterine Neoplasms Panel's 2016 discussions and major guideline updates for treating uterine sarcomas. During this most recent update, the panel updated the mesenchymal tumor classification to correspond with recent updates to the WHO tumor classification system. Additionally, the panel revised its systemic therapy recommendations to reflect new data and collective clinical experience. These NCCN Guidelines Insights elaborate on the rationale behind these recent changes.

The NCCN Guidelines for Cervical Cancer provide recommendations for diagnostic workup, staging, and treatment of patients with the disease. These NCCN Guidelines Insights focus on recent updates to the guidelines, including changes to first- and second-line systemic therapy recommendations for patients with recurrent or metastatic disease, and emerging evidence on a new histopathologic classification system for HPV-related endocervical adenocarcinoma.

The NCCN Guidelines for Uterine Neoplasms provide recommendations for diagnostic workup, clinical staging, and treatment options for patients with endometrial cancer or uterine sarcoma. These NCCN Guidelines Insights focus on the recent addition of molecular profiling information to aid in accurate diagnosis, classification, and treatment of uterine sarcomas.

These NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Cervical Cancer focus on early-stage disease, because it occurs more frequently in the United States. After careful clinical evaluation and staging, the primary treatment of early-stage cervical cancer is either surgery or radiotherapy. These guidelines include fertility-sparing and non-fertility-sparing treatment for those with early-stage disease, which is disease confined to the uterus. A new fertility-sparing algorithm was added for select patients with stage IA and IB1 disease..

Endometrial carcinoma is a malignant epithelial tumor that forms in the inner lining, or endometrium, of the uterus. Endometrial carcinoma is the most common gynecologic malignancy. Approximately two-thirds of endometrial carcinoma cases are diagnosed with disease confined to the uterus. The complete NCCN Guidelines for Uterine Neoplasms provide recommendations for the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of endometrial cancer and uterine sarcoma. This manuscript discusses guiding principles for the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of early-stage endometrial carcinoma as well as evidence for these recommendations.

Cervical cancer is a malignant epithelial tumor that forms in the uterine cervix. Most cases of cervical cancer are preventable through human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination, routine screening, and treatment of precancerous lesions. However, due to inadequate screening protocols in many regions of the world, cervical cancer remains the fourth-most common cancer in women globally. The complete NCCN Guidelines for Cervical Cancer provide recommendations for the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of cervical cancer. This manuscript discusses guiding principles for the workup, staging, and treatment of early stage and locally advanced cervical cancer, as well as evidence for these recommendations. For recommendations regarding treatment of recurrent or metastatic disease, please see the full guidelines on NCCN.org.