Pediatric blood & cancer
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Pediatric blood & cancer · Aug 2007
Evaluation of a pediatric palliative care educational workshop for oncology fellows.
Recent efforts have focused on improving pediatric palliative care to relieve physical and psychological suffering throughout the course of illness, as well as to improve care at the end-of-life (EOL). One area of attention has been medical training, as healthcare providers have often reported feeling ill-equipped to manage EOL issues. As a pilot study, we developed and evaluated a daylong educational workshop on pediatric palliative care for oncology fellows. ⋯ Fellows reported open beliefs about palliative care, but acknowledged weaknesses in their training and level of competence. The workshop showed efficacy in improving knowledge, but additional research is needed to evaluate larger educational initiatives and their long-term impact on clinical services and family satisfaction.
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The aim of the study was to make a comprehensive inventory of the physical, psychological, and social symptoms of children with cancer and their parents during the palliative phase and the extent to which health professionals address those symptoms. ⋯ The burden of symptoms of the child with cancer during the palliative phase and their parents is high. Health professionals focus mainly on the physical symptoms of the child. Relief of symptoms could not be achieved for a large proportion of symptoms. Further prospective research is necessary to investigate the kind, frequency and intensity of symptoms in order to tailor optimal palliative care to the needs of both child and parent.
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Pediatric blood & cancer · Aug 2007
Does consolidation with autologous stem cell transplantation improve the outcome of children with metastatic or relapsed Ewing sarcoma?
To evaluate the role of high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) as consolidation therapy for children with high-risk Ewing sarcoma (ES) treated at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto. ⋯ ASCT appears to add some benefit to conventional multimodality therapy for children with high-risk ES. Randomized controlled trials are warranted.
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Pediatric blood & cancer · Jul 2007
Outcome for young children newly diagnosed with ependymoma, treated with intensive induction chemotherapy followed by myeloablative chemotherapy and autologous stem cell rescue.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of an intensive chemotherapy induction regimen followed by myeloablative chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell rescue (AHSCR) in children with newly diagnosed ependymoma. ⋯ The use of an intensive induction chemotherapy regimen including myeloablative chemotherapy followed by AHSCR in newly diagnosed young children with ependymoma is not superior to other previously reported chemotherapeutic strategies.
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Pediatric blood & cancer · Jul 2007
A stress echocardiography study of cardiac function during progressive exercise in pediatric oncology patients treated with anthracyclines.
Anthracycline-treated patients (AP) are at risk for cardiac dysfunction years after treatment. Cardiac function has not been evaluated during exercise in AP. The purpose of this study was to assess exercise tolerance, left ventricular (LV) function, and hemodynamics during progressive exercise. ⋯ AP have reduced exercise tolerance. There also appears to be a dose-related effect on myocardial contractility and SVI. These findings may help to guide treatment.