British journal of cancer
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British journal of cancer · Jun 2004
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialPrevalence and management of pain in Italian patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.
Pain is a highly distressing symptom for patients with advanced cancer. WHO analgesic ladder is widely accepted as a guideline for its treatment. Our aim was to describe pain prevalence among patients diagnosed with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), impact of pain on quality of life (QoL) and adequacy of pain management. ⋯ Bone metastases were associated with improved adequacy and worst pain with reduced adequacy at multivariate analysis. In conclusion, pain is common in patients with advanced NSCLC, significantly affects QoL, and is frequently undertreated. We recommend that: (i). pain self-assessment should be part of oncological clinical practice; (ii). pain control should be a primary goal in clinical practice and in clinical trials; (iii). physicians should receive more training in pain management; (iv). analgesic treatment deserves greater attention in protocols of anticancer treatment.
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British journal of cancer · Jun 2004
ReviewRole of nutritional intervention in patients treated with radiotherapy for pelvic malignancy.
Up to 12000 patients with gynaecological, urological and rectal cancer undergo radical pelvic radiotherapy annually in the UK. More than 70% develop acute inflammatory changes causing gastrointestinal symptoms during treatment because healthy bowel tissue is encompassed in the radiation field. In total, 50% go on to develop chronic bowel symptoms, which affect quality of life due to permanent changes in the small and large intestine. ⋯ No studies could be combined because the interventions and the end points were different. There is no evidence base for the use of nutritional interventions to prevent or manage bowel symptoms attributable to radiotherapy. Low-fat diets, probiotic supplementation and elemental diet merit further investigation.
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British journal of cancer · Jun 2004
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialRandomised controlled trial comparing single agent paclitaxel vs epidoxorubicin plus paclitaxel in patients with advanced ovarian cancer in early progression after platinum-based chemotherapy: an Italian Collaborative Study from the Mario Negri Institute, Milan, G.O.N.O. (Gruppo Oncologico Nord Ovest) group and I.O.R. (Istituto Oncologico Romagnolo) group.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the role of epidoxorubicin plus paclitaxel combination (ET) vs single agent paclitaxel (T), as second-line chemotherapy treatment in advanced ovarian cancer patients in early progression within 12 months after platinum-based chemotherapy. From October 1994 up to June 1999, 234 patients from 34 Italian hospitals were randomised to receive: (A) epidoxorubicin (E) 80 mg m(-2) + paclitaxel (T) 175 mg m(-2) (3 h infusion), every 21 days for 4-6 cycles. (B) Paclitaxel 175 mg m(-2) (3 h infusion) every 21 days for 4-6 cycles. Evaluable for survival analysis were 106 and 106 patients in ET and T arm, respectively. ⋯ Survival analysis showed no difference between ET and T (median time to progression: 6 months for both regimens, median survival: 12 and 14 months for ET and T, respectively; hazard ratio for mortality of ET vs T: 1.17 (95% CI 0.86-1.59; P=0.33). The ET regimen does not seem to be more effective than T in refractory advanced ovarian cancer patients in early progression after platinum-based chemotherapy. Despite an acceptable response rate, the control of disease progression remains poor.
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British journal of cancer · Jun 2004
Case ReportsLate resistance to imatinib therapy in a metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumour is associated with a second KIT mutation.
Currently, there are no data on the secondary resistance of gastrointestinal stromal tumours to imatinib. Here, we report a case of metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumour that relapsed during imatinib therapy. Mutation analysis showed that the imatinib-resistant liver tumour contained two c-kit mutations.