Angela Marx

Background: While HER2 targeted therapeutics have significantly improved outcomes of patients with HER2 overexpressed advanced breast cancer (ABC), c-Met pathway activation serves as a resistance mechanism in about 60% of patients. Neratinib is an irreversible tyrosine kinase inhibitor of the ErbB family of receptors (EGFR, HER2, and HER4) and tepotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of c-Met. From live extracted cells from patient biopsies, the CELsignia Pathway Activity Test measures in real-time ErbB and c-Met signaling activity and the dynamic response to pathway inhibition by targeted therapy ex vivo. The CELsignia test may identify patients with ABC who would benefit from the combination of neratinib and tepotinib regardless of the molecular breast cancer subtype. Trial Design: We designed a phase Ib/II multi-center, non-randomized, open-label study of combination of neratinib with tepotinib in patients with advanced breast cancer including those with inflammatory breast cance...

Marjolin's ulcers (MU) are skin malignancies that form over burn injuries. These very aggressive ulcers can result in functional and wound healing impairment, and require a well thought out treatment plan. Physiotherapy offers resources to help promote recovery of these patients, as described in this case report, in which the patient with a history of burn in the lower limbs evolved to malignancy 32 years later. This patient underwent tumor resection of the left foot, with recurrence and . Physical therapy included the application of high-frequency generator (HFG) for wound healing and exercises for functional recovery. The treatment lasted for many months and resulted in the improvement of the surgical wound areas, pain, swelling, sensitivity, strength muscle, and gait. It was observed that the use of HFG can be a tool in the tissue repair of surgical wound after the resection of MU; however, further studies need to be carried out to suit parameters and ensure safety of cancer ...

Introduction Physiotherapy has an important role in cancer rehabilitation, particularly with the head and neck cancer patients, in an attempt to minimize the morbidities caused by the disease and its treatment. Objective To determine the role of physiotherapy treatment in morbidities of head and neck cancer, in a retrospective investigation, at one oncologic hospital. Materials and methods Retrospective study based on the analysis of medical records of 32 patients treated at the outpatient Physiotherapy department at the Brazilian Institute of Cancer Control (IBCC), from August 2008 to July 2010. Results Twenty-nine medical records were evaluated, 86.2% were males with cancer in the oral cavity (41.4%) that had radical neck dissection (69%) and radiotherapy (86.2%), evolving with lymphedema (89.7%), pain (82.8%), normotrophic scar (65.5%), tissue adherence (27.6%) and hypoesthesia (51.7%). The physiotherapeutic treatment included: manual lymphatic drainage (89.7%), transcutaneous el...

In recent years, breast cancer has witnessed some notable improvements regarding early diagnosis and new therapeutical strategies, mainly because of the utilization of new drugs and systemic treatment protocols, which have had a direct impact in the increase of these patients' global survival rate. At the same time, it is an ever-growing concern among oncology professionals to identify and minimize as much as possible the effects of long-term toxicity resulting from cancer therapies. Within this context, physiotherapy fits as a preventive and rehabilitating factor regarding functional and skeletal alterations, deriving not only from the direct action of breast cancer, but also from the treatment to which these patients are submitted. The aim of this study was to revise the scientific literature on possible adjuvant chemotherapy-induced secondary deleterious effects on the bone mass of patients diagnosed with breast cancer, and also to revise the literature on the intervention of...