Early stage diseases

The treatment goals in lung cancer are cure (early-stage disease), prolongation of survival, and maintenance or improvement of quality of life through alleviation of symptoms. 

The goal of adjuvant therapy in early-stage disease is cure. Because there is no clinical evidence of disease when adjuvant therapy is administered, assessment of this goal cannot be fully evaluated for years after initial diagnosis and treatment. 

Abstract The hallmark of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is the expression of Bcr-Abl, a constitutively active form of the Abl tyrosine kinase. Imatinib, a 2-phenylamino-pyrimidine Bcr-Abl inhibitor developed by Novartis and marketed under the tradename of Gleevec (Glivec), is highly effective in treating CML patients with early stage disease. However, patients with advanced disease often become resistant to imatinib. The predominant form of this resistance is the development of mutations in the Bcr-Abl protein. These point mutations can be amino acid residues that make direct contact with imatinib or residues that do not allow Bcr-Abl to adopt the inactive conformation. Since imatinib can only bind to the inactive conformation of the protein, both types of mutations prevent this inhibitor from binding. Several approaches have been taken to identify additional... 

One-third of patients present with early stage disease (AJCC stage I or II) with the remainder of patients presenting with locally advanced disease (AJCC stage III or IV). 

Overexpressed in patients with early-stage disease and optimal debulking success... 

Breast cancer cytosols Immunoassay Overexpressed in younger patients with early-stage disease, small ER - positive, low S-phase, low-cellularity diploid tumors Associated with a longer DFS and OSc Independent indicator of increased DFS for all patients as well as node-positive, ER-negative Favorable prognosis [269]... 

Comparison of clinical studies using bone marrow and blood-derived cells after acute myocordian infarction to prevent the development of heart failure. Currently, bone marrow-derived stem cells show greater potential to treat early-stage disease, primarily owing to their angiogenic potential, leading to improved left ventricle protection and ultimately to better preserved function. 

Radiation therapy is an integral part of treatment and can be used alone for selected patients with early-stage disease, although most patients wiU receive chemotherapy and radiation. Involved-field radiation therapy targets a single field of HL. Extended-field or subtotal nodal radiation targets the involved field and an uninvolved area. Total nodal radiation therapy targets aU areas. 

For screening, you must have a marker that is elevated at early disease stages, when the disease is localized and potentially curable. Most circulating cancer markers (with the exception of PSA) are elevated notably in the late stages of disease. Thus diagnostic sensitivity is usually low for early-stage disease. 

Treatment of localized prostate cancer is controversial. While early-stage disease is curable by surgery or radiation therapy, both modalities have significant morbidity and mortality and... 

Patients with early-stage disease who have certain features associated with a poor prognosis are defined as having unfavorable disease (see... 

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is an idiopathic autoimmune liver disease characterized by chronic inflammation and destruction of intrahepatic bile ducts (Talwalkar Lindor, 2003). The disease typically affects middle-aged women (the female to male ratio is 9 1). The prevalence of the disease, which is found worldwide, has been estimated to be 4 cases per 100 000 (Feld Heathcote, 2003). With advances in diagnosis, a growing proportion of patients are being identified with asymptomatic early-stage disease. Clinical... 

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