Journal of pediatric hematology/oncology
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J. Pediatr. Hematol. Oncol. · May 2012
Review Case ReportsSporadic adenocarcinoma of the colon in children: case series and review of the literature.
Adenocarcinoma of the colon is rare in pediatric patients and thus not much is known about its clinical and imaging characteristics. ⋯ In children, this disease has more aggressive histologies and presents more frequently in an advanced stage. This is because it is not a diagnosis often considered, leading to poorer outcomes. When patients present in the correct clinical context, the possibility of colonic adenocarcinoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis, which may in turn lead to better outcomes.
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J. Pediatr. Hematol. Oncol. · May 2012
Clinical TrialAttitudes regarding analgesic use and pain expression in parents of children with cancer.
Children with cancer often experience significant levels of pain and their pain is generally undermanaged. Management of care to patients with cancer has shifted from the hospital to the home, and as such parents are charged with managing children's pain. However, parents may have misconceptions of analgesic use, which can lead to undertreatment of pain in children. The purpose of this study is to examine attitudes toward pain medication and perceptions of pain expression among parents of children undergoing cancer treatment. ⋯ Many parents of children with cancer have misconceptions regarding issues of pain management; these misconceptions can potentially lead to undertreatment of pain in children. These misconceptions are associated with aspects of children's temperament.
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J. Pediatr. Hematol. Oncol. · May 2012
development of a therapeutic approach to rare cancers in children: the Children's Oncology Group experience.
Rare tumors are a heterogenous group of infrequent tumors with varied biology and clinical presentation. Although individually rare, in aggregate they account for 15% of all cancers in children younger than 20 years of age. ⋯ In an effort to improve the management of these rare tumors, the Children's Oncology Group rare tumor committee, brought together a panel of experts to develop therapeutic recommendations for these rare tumors. These recommendations are being presented in this journal issue.
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J. Pediatr. Hematol. Oncol. · Apr 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialExchange transfusion therapy and its effects on real-time microcirculation in pediatric sickle cell anemia patients: an intravital microscopy study.
Periodic blood exchange transfusion is a treatment modality commonly used to manage pediatric sickle cell anemia at the University of California Davis Medical Center. The goal of exchange transfusion therapy is to ameliorate vasoocclusion and improve tissue perfusion by removing sickled red blood cells and introducing normal red blood cells. Using computer-assisted intravital microscopy, pretransfusion and posttransfusion microvascular characteristics were analyzed. ⋯ However, with the paradoxical posttransfusion decrease in red cell velocity presumably due to induced hyperviscosity from the large transfusion volume, blood flow is still impaired. This decreased velocity may thwart efforts to improve oxygen delivery through transfusion and may, to some extent, promote vasoocclusion instead. This paradoxical result warrants further investigation on the effects of transfusion volume and viscosity in the exchange transfusion process.
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J. Pediatr. Hematol. Oncol. · Apr 2012
Comparative StudyHealth-related quality of life in pediatric cancer survivors: a multifactorial assessment including parental factors.
We aimed to evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and the effect of associated factors such as cancer type, treatment strategies, sex, age, and parental factors like education and psychopathology in pediatric cancer survivors and make a comparison with healthy children. ⋯ Our study has provided evidence about less-studied determinants of HRQOL like parental factors such as psychopathology or educational level in childhood cancer survivors. Future research can build on this evidence to obtain additional factors other than well-known medical and treatment-related factors.