This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Related letter  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Oncology  • Breast Cancer  • Women's Health  • Women's Health, Other  • Drug Therapy  • Drug Therapy, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 124 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: In their Perspectives on Care at the Close of Life article, Dr Abrahm and colleagues¹ discussed management of spinal cord compression in patients with advanced metastatic cancer. On reading the patient's story, it seems that a patient with regression of a left hip metastasis following treatment in 1990 with salpingo-oophorectomy would be a candidate for another hormonal therapy in 2000 when a new vertebral metastasis developed or in 2004 when further surgery was required. The authors did not comment on why tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor was not initiated at those times, although there is evidence that patients who respond to 1 hormonal maneuver have a high likelihood of responding to a second and even a third.²

Financial Disclosures: None reported.

Kathleen I. Pritchard, MD
kathy.pritchard@sunnybrook.ca
Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

1. Abrahm JL, Banffy MB, Harris MB. Spinal cord compression patients with advanced metastatic cancer. JAMA. 2008;299(8):937-946. FREE FULL TEXT 2. Henderson IC. Less toxic treatment for advanced breast cancer. N Engl J Med. 1981;305(10):575-577. ISI | PUBMED

Letters Section Editor: Robert M. Golub, MD, Senior Editor.

JAMA. 2008;299(23):2745.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

Spinal Cord Compression in Patients With Advanced Metastatic Cancer: "All I Care About Is Walking and Living My Life"
Janet L. Abrahm, Michael B. Banffy, and Mitchel B. Harris
JAMA. 2008;299(8):937-946.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

RELATED LETTER

Antihormone Therapy in Recurrent Metastatic Breast Cancer—Reply
Janet L. Abrahm
JAMA. 2008;299(23):2745.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT