The New England journal of medicine
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Oregon's 1997 Death with Dignity Act legalizes physician-assisted suicide. To date, information about patients who have requested this option has come from surveys of physicians. Although 78 percent of the 91 Oregonians who have died by assisted suicide were enrolled in hospice programs, there is little information about the experiences of hospice practitioners with these patients. ⋯ Since assisted suicide was legalized in Oregon, many hospice nurses and social workers have provided care for a patient who requested assistance with suicide. They rated desire for control as a very important reason for these requests.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Efficacy and safety of imatinib mesylate in advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
Constitutive activation of KIT receptor tyrosine kinase is critical in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Imatinib mesylate, a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has been shown in preclinical models and preliminary clinical studies to have activity against such tumors. ⋯ Imatinib induced a sustained objective response in more than half of patients with an advanced unresectable or metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumor. Inhibition of the KIT signal-transduction pathway is a promising treatment for advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors, which resist conventional chemotherapy.