Comparative Effectiveness of Minimally Invasive vs Open Radical Prostatectomy
J. HU et al, JAMA. 2009; 302(14):1557-1564

• Men with prostate cancer who underwent MIRP (n = 1938) vs RRP (n = 6899). Men undergoing MIRP vs RRP experienced shorter length of stay, fewer respiratory and miscellaneous surgical complications and strictures, and similar postoperative use of additional cancer therapies but experienced more genitourinary complications, incontinence, and erectile dysfunction.
  
• Men of higher socioeconomic status opted for a high-technology alternative despite insufficient data demonstrating superiority over an established gold standard may be a reflection of a society and health care system enamored with new technology that increased direct and indirect health care costs but had yet to uniformly realize marketed or potential benefits during early adoption.
  
  Read full paper: JAMA
  
  

Assessment of an RNA interference screen-derived mitotic and ceramide pathway metagene as a predictor of response to neoadjuvant paclitaxel for primary triple-negative breast cancer: a retrospective analysis of five clinical trials
Juul N. et al, Lancet Oncology, March 2010

• Genes involved in mitosis or ceramide metabolism can influence sensitivity to paclitaxel
  In multivariate logistic regression, the metagene was associated with pCR (OR 19·92, 2·62—151·57; p=0·0039) with paclitaxel-containing chemotherapy.
  
• In silico signature can predict response to paclitaxel.
  
  
  Read full paper: Lancet Oncology
  

Lasofoxifene in Postmenopausal Women with Osteoporosis
Steven R. Cummings et al, NEJM, February 25, 2010

• 8556 women who were between the ages of 59 and 80 years and had a bone mineral density T score of –2.5 or less. Randomized to receive once-daily lasofoxifene (at a dose of either 0.25 mg or 0.5 mg) or placebo for 5 years. 
  
• Lasofoxifene at a dose of 0.5 mg per day, as compared with placebo, was associated with reduced risks of vertebral fracture, nonvertebral fracture, ER-positive breast cancer, coronary heart disease events and stroke.
  
• In postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, lasofoxifene at a dose of 0.5 mg per day…. is a panacea.
  
  

Read full paper: New England Journal of Medicine

Imatinib Mesylate in Advanced Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans: Pooled Analysis of Two Phase II Clinical Trials
Piotr Rutkowski et al, JCO, Early release, 2010

• Imatinib (400 to 800 mg daily) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic DFSP. 68 patients were enrolled onto the EORTC and SWOG trials. Eleven patients (46%) had partial response as best response, and four patients had progressive disease as best response. Median TTP was 1.7 years. Imatinib is active in DFSP harboring t(17;22) including fibrosarcomatous DFSP, with objective response rate approaching 50%. Response rates TTP did not differ between patients taking 400 mg daily versus 400 mg twice a day. 
  
• In DFSP imatinib is an active drug.
  
  
  
  Read full paper: JCO