Articles

Giant cell tumour of the jaw: a new hope for a difficult-to-treat disease

BJMO - volume 6, issue 6, december 2012

D. Schrijvers MD, PhD, D. van den Weyngaert MD, O. Lenssen MD, S. De Clercq , D. De Surgeloose MD

Recurrent giant cell tumour of the bone is a difficult to treat and mutilating disease. A patient with a recurrent giant cell tumour of the jaw is reported. He received multiple treatments with surgery and bisphosphonates. Due to progressive disease he was treated with denosumab with good result. An overview of giant cell tumour of the bone is given. (BELG J MED ONCOL 2012;6:201–203)

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Guidelines in oncology

BJMO - volume 6, issue 4, september 2012

D. Schrijvers MD, PhD

Guidelines are important tools in relation to patient treatment and care in oncology. They are systematically developed statements to assist practitioner- and patient-decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances. They are needed because of unexplained and inappropriate variations in clinical practice patterns, different cancer treatment outcomes, further limitations in resources affecting administration of high quality health care, difficulties of integrating rapidly evolving scientific evidence into daily clinical practice, guidance for involved stakeholders and quality control. A guideline development programme should be inclusive, transparent, consultative, evidence-based and adhering to internationally recognised standards of practice such as the AGREE Collaboration. There should be an implementation plan to ensure that guidelines are implemented in daily clinical practice since they have an important influence on cancer outcome. This article reviews the need, development, implementation, adherence and outcome of guidelines. (BELG J MED ONCOL 2012;6:112–117)

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