Advances in therapy
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Advances in therapy · Feb 2014
ReviewOpioid-induced endocrinopathy in cancer patients: an underestimated clinical problem.
The impact of both endogenous and exogenous opioids on the endocrine system has been known for many years. With the increased use of opioids in chronic pain treatment, the research focuses mainly on their effects on the endocrine system in patients with chronic non-malignant pain. Despite the wide dissemination of cancer, there has been little research on the possible effects of opioids on the endocrine system in cancer patients. ⋯ This article presents the available research on the effects of opioids on the endocrine system and the clinical consequences resulting from opioid use in cancer patients. Clinicians who use opioids in clinical practice should be aware of the existence of the endocrine symptoms of opioid therapy. There is still a need for more research in this area to maintain the best possible quality of life for cancer patients treated with opioid analgesics.
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Advances in therapy · Feb 2014
Incremental burden of disease in patients diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension receiving monotherapy and combination vasodilator therapy.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare, severely debilitating disease with high mortality. There are limited data available on treatment patterns and burden of disease from conditions of actual care. ⋯ Combination treatment and particularly the use of prostacyclins remain underused in an unselected population of PAH patients surveyed under conditions of actual care. The disease burden is substantial and increases with greater severity of disease and more aggressive treatments. This necessitates improvement in optimizing current therapy, as well as novel and innovative combination options.
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Advances in therapy · Feb 2014
Enzalutamide after docetaxel and abiraterone therapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Enzalutamide is a novel antiandrogen which is approved for the treatment of metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) after taxane-based chemotherapy. The efficacy of enzalutamide after the sequence docetaxel and abiraterone is not proven. ⋯ Although the results are limited by a small patient number, the consecutive use of enzalutamide and abiraterone after taxane-based chemotherapy shows a modest clinical activity. Thus, sequence therapy alternating between chemotherapy and antihormonal drugs might be a more promising approach in mCRPC treatment.