Journal of oncology practice
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Tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells have the capacity to target and eradicate malignant B cells in patients with Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma; however, multiple mechanisms, including regulatory T cells, immunosuppressive ligands, and immune exhaustion, suppress an effective antitumor immune response. One mechanism that is used by malignant cells to inhibit the immune response is overexpression of programmed death ligand 1 or 2 (PD-L1 or PD-L2) on the cancer cell surface. ⋯ Blocking antibodies that are directed against PD-1 or PD-L1 are currently being tested in patients with lymphoma and have shown remarkable efficacy, particularly in patients with relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma. On the basis of the promising activity of this approach, PD-1 inhibitors are being used as single-agent therapy in patients with relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma, and these inhibitors are also being tested in combination with standard chemotherapy or targeted agents in ongoing clinical trials.
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Checklists are used in many different settings for the purpose of standardization and reduction of preventable errors in practice. Our group sought to determine whether a palliative care checklist (PCC) would improve the clinical documentation of key patient information. ⋯ Our study showed that the use of a PCC improved the quality of the documentation of a patient visit in an outpatient clinical setting.
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To develop a care model to decrease incidence of preventable errors in the complex multidisciplinary care of hematology inpatients at the time of discharge. ⋯ There was significant decrease in preventable errors demonstrated after implementation of our care model. Developing a systematic approach to hospital discharges can lead to improvements and serve a model for other inpatient wards.
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Cancer management requires coordinated care from many health care providers, and its complexity requires physicians be up to date on current research. Web-based social media support physician collaboration and information sharing, but the extent to which physicians use social media for these purposes remains unknown. The complex field of oncology will benefit from increased use of online social media to enhance physician communication, education, and mentorship. To facilitate this, patterns of social media use among oncologists must be better understood. ⋯ The identified gap in social media use between age cohorts may have negative implications for communication in oncology. Despite advancements in social media and efforts to integrate social media into medical education, most oncologists and trainees use social media rarely, which, along with the age-related gap in use, may have consequences for collaboration and education in oncology. Investigations to further understand barriers to social media use should be undertaken to enhance physician collaboration and knowledge sharing through social media.
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The purpose of this study was to explore concordance between patient self-reports of pain on validated questionnaires and discussions of pain in the ambulatory oncology setting. ⋯ Self-report pain screening measures favored specificity over sensitivity. Asking about pain frequency (in addition to intensity) and reconsidering threshold scores on pain intensity scales may be practical strategies to more accurately identify patients with cancer who have relevant pain.