The journal of supportive oncology
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Review
Mechanism of action of cannabinoids: how it may lead to treatment of cachexia, emesis, and pain.
Many patients with life-threatening diseases such as cancer experience severe symptoms that compromise their health status and deny them quality of life. Patients with cancer often experience cachexia, pain, and depression,which translate into an unacceptable quality of life. ⋯ As such, it represents a target for development of new medications for controlling the symptoms associated with cancer. Although the cannabinoid receptor agonist tetrahydrocannabinol and one of its analogs are currently the only agents approved for clinical use, efforts are under way to devise other strategies for activating the endocannabinoid system for therapeutic uses.
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Hematopoietic stem cell transplant is an established treatment modality for a variety of neoplastic, hematologic, and immunologic disorders. Fueled in part by remarkable technologic advances, the number of both autologous and allogeneic transplants has increased dramatically over the past decade. Peripheral blood stem cells have largely replaced bone marrow as the source of hematopoietic progenitors in autologous transplants, and their use in the allogeneic setting has increased substantially. ⋯ Although regimen-related mortality and morbidity have decreased, stem cell transplants continue to pose multiple potential complications. A careful proactive assessment to identify, treat, and, hopefully, prevent adverse events is essential to a successful transplant. This review is intended to summarize some of the toxicities of hematopoietic stem cell transplant in a systematic, organ-based fashion and to review the treatment options available for each of these side effects.