The fight against cancer: Is it worthwhile?

The Fight against Cancer

[Tracheostomy in the ICU: is it worthwhile?].

OBJECTIVE To determine the feasibility of performing tracheostomy in the intensive care unit (ICU) environment and to assess procedure-related complications and mortality. METHODS The medical records of the 73 patients submitted to tracheostomy in the ICU of the Federal University of São Paulo Hospital São Paulo between January and November of 2003 were evaluated retrospectively. All operatio...

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer: is it worthwhile?

BACKGROUND With promising results from several institutions, many centers began treating patients with esophageal cancer with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NC) followed by esophagectomy. This approach is demanding for the patient and has not been proved to be better than esophagectomy alone. OBJECTIVE To assess survival time and measures of quality of life associated with NC. DESIGN A retr...

Multivisceral Resection For Pancreatic Head Cancer: Is It Worthwhile?

Pancreatic cancer has a dismal prognosis [1, 2]. Surgical resection with negative margins is the best treatment option and the only curative one, but it obtains a 5-year survival rate of only 15-25% [1, 2, 3]. When the tumor is located in the pancreatic head, pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is performed. This surgical technique includes the resection of several organs (pancreatic head, duodenum, b...

The Fight Against Cervical Cancer

Globally, cervical cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer affectingwomen—killingmore than 270,000 people every year. Themajority of these deaths (85%, according to theWHO) occur in developing countries. A global health priority, therefore, is to provide low-cost, highly effective cervical cancer prevention, detection, and control options to all women who need them. The human papilloma...