Anticancer research
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Anticancer research · May 2012
Clinical TrialPilot study of duloxetine for cancer patients with neuropathic pain non-responsive to pregabalin.
Neuropathic pain frequently occurs in cancer patients, but no drug therapy has been established for this type of disorder. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of duloxetine in cancer patients suffering from neuropathic pain. ⋯ Duloxetine administration may be effective for neuropathic pain in cancer patients who cannot tolerate pregabalin administration.
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Anticancer research · May 2012
Parenteral nutrition support for patients with pancreatic cancer--improvement of the nutritional status and the therapeutic outcome.
Malnutrition is a frequent and serious problem of patients with pancreatic cancer (i.e. due to exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, postoperative syndromes, anorexia, chemotherapy, and/or tumor progression). In many cases it has negative effects on the quality of life or on the tumor therapy. We investigated if malnutrition can be resolved or corrected by adequate home parenteral nutrition (PN) of pancreatic cancer (PaCa) patients, in cases where dietary advice and oral nutrition supplementation failed to correct the deficiencies. The energy supply via PN was analyzed in patients with PaCa, with focus on the single components in compounded PN. ⋯ A timely onset of PN with sufficient calories leads to an improved nutritional status of patients with PaCa disease. PN enhances the quality of life, the administration of tumor therapy without interruption and therefore may lead to a better success of the entire therapy. For late-stage tumor patients (Gr2) the quality of life can, at least, be improved. The success of PN is significantly dependent upon the patients' compliance, which could be achieved through intensive consulting and support of all patients and their relatives.