Various groups have called for a national system to monitor the quality of cancer care. However, the validity of cancer registry data has not yet been proven. In this study, Jennifer L Malin, M.D., of the Jonsson Comprehensive Center at the University of California at Los Angeles, and her colleagues compared registry data regarding cancer care with medical records from 304 breast cancer patients.

Malin and her colleagues found that the accuracy of registry data was higher for hospital-based services such as mastectomy and lymph node dissection than for ambulatory services such as biopsy and chemotherapy. The authors conclude that registries could provide the infrastructure for collecting data on the quality of cancer care; they recommend that funding be increased to support data collection by cancer registries.

Blocking Growth Factor Receptor Prevents Local But Not Distant Metastases
Blocking signaling by the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 (VEGFR-3), which stimulates tumor lymphogianesis (the formation of lymphatic vessels), can suppress regional metastasis to the lymph nodes, a new study suggests. The findings were published in the June 5 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Kari Alitalo, Ph.D., of the University of Helsinki in Finland, and her colleagues used a receptor-antibody fusion protein to block two vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF-C and VEGF-D) that induce angiogenesis and lymphangiogensesis in tumors via VEGFR-3 signaling.

The authors found that blocking VEGFR-3 signaling
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Contact: Linda Wang
301-841-1287
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
4-Jun-2002