European journal of cancer care
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Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) · Jan 2008
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyOpioid use in dying patients in hospice and hospital, with and without specialist palliative care team involvement.
Newspapers claim that patients in hospices have their opioid doses increased to a point at which doctors know that they will die. However, research has produced conflicting results about whether hospice patients receive higher doses of opioids. ⋯ There was no statistically significant difference in the mean dose of opioids prescribed to and given to the different groups of cancer patients dying in different settings, indicating that the claims of the press are untrue. The cancer patients dying in hospital who were not on the HPCT records more commonly received Tramadol, which may indicate a reluctance of hospital doctors to move from weak opioids to strong opioids.
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Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) · Nov 2007
Randomized Controlled TrialEffects of an integrated yoga programme on chemotherapy-induced nausea and emesis in breast cancer patients.
This study examined the effect of an integrated yoga programme on chemotherapy-related nausea and emesis in early operable breast cancer outpatients. Sixty-two subjects were randomly allocated to receive yoga (n = 28) or supportive therapy intervention (n = 34) during the course of their chemotherapy. Both groups had similar socio-demographic and medical characteristics. ⋯ Following yoga, there was a significant decrease in post-chemotherapy-induced nausea frequency (P = 0.01) and nausea intensity (P = 0.01), and intensity of anticipatory nausea (P = 0.01) and anticipatory vomiting (P = 0.05) as compared with the control group. There was a significant positive correlation between MANE scores and anxiety, depression and distressful symptoms. In conclusion, the results suggest a possible use for stress reduction interventions such as yoga in complementing conventional antiemetics to manage chemotherapy-related nausea and emesis.
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Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) · Nov 2007
Comparative StudyPrediction of outcome in cancer patients with febrile neutropenia: comparison of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer risk-index score with procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A, and interleukins-1beta, -6, -8 and -10.
The primary objective of the study was to compare the predictive potential of procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A (SAA), and interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10, with that of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) risk-index score in cancer patients on presentation with chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia (FN). Seventy-eight consecutive FN episodes in 63 patients were included, and MASCC scores, as well as concentrations of CRP, SAA, PCT, and IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10, and haematological parameters were determined on presentation, 72 h later and at outcome. ⋯ Of the various laboratory parameters, PCT had the strongest association with the MASCC score (r = -0.51; P < 0.0001). In cancer patients who present with FN, the MASCC risk-index score is a useful predictor of outcome, while measurement of PCT, CRP, SAA, or IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10, is of limited value.
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Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) · Sep 2007
Case ReportsOcular melanoma presenting as a case of panophthalmitis in a 78-year-old Nigerian woman (masquerade syndrome): an uncommon finding in Benin City, Nigeria.
Theodore states that the term 'masquerade syndrome' first appeared in the ophthalmic literature in 1967 to describe a conjunctival carcinoma that presented as chronic conjunctivitis. Since then, the masquerade syndrome label has been applied to a group of disorders that mimic ocular inflammatory disease. Although some benign conditions can be considered masquerade syndromes, most often the term refers to malignant entities. ⋯ Nevertheless, the subject deserves wide attention because, in many cases, the diseases that masquerade are not only vision-threatening but potentially fatal. Significant morbidity and mortality can be averted by early recognition and diagnosis of the masquerade. In this article, we present a case of a 78-year-old Nigerian woman who had an ocular melanoma that presented as a panophthalmitis, a rare case of masquerade syndrome in our environment.
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Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) · Jul 2007
Case ReportsBlue angioedema of eyelip after patent blue injection for lymphatic mapping procedure.
Sentinel node biopsy using patent blue dye in breast cancer is a well-documented procedure to assess the axillary status. We presented an unusual and previously unreported complication of simple blue angioedema over bilaterally periorbital tissue after blue dye injection.