Cancer
-
Accurate survival prediction is essential for decision-making in cancer therapies and care planning. Objective physiologic measures may improve the accuracy of prognostication. In this prospective study, the authors determined the association of phase angle, handgrip strength, and maximal inspiratory pressure with overall survival in patients with advanced cancer. ⋯ Phase angle was found to be a novel predictor of poor survival, independent of established prognostic factors, in the advanced cancer setting. This objective and noninvasive tool may be useful for bedside prognostication.
-
Multicenter Study
Determinants of alpha-fetoprotein levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: implications for its clinical use.
α-Fetoprotein (AFP) is a biomarker commonly used in the management of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), although the possible determinants of its serum levels in these patients have not been adequately explored. For this study, the authors evaluated the relevance of demographic, clinical, and oncologic factors to the presence of elevated AFP levels in large cohort of patients with HCC. ⋯ Sex and features of chronic liver disease were identified as nontumor characteristics that influence serum AFP levels in patients with HCC. These findings should be taken into account as limitations in interpreting the oncologic meaning of this biomarker in clinical practice.
-
FLT3-internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutations are found in approximately 30% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). FLT3 inhibitors have shown clinical activity in AML with FLT3-ITD, but responses are usually short-lived. ⋯ These data confirm in vitro observations that a secondary tyrosine kinase domain mutation may arise after the use of FLT3 inhibitors in patients with single FLT3-ITD mutated AML, a phenomenon that is associated with resistance and a poor prognosis.
-
A prospective longitudinal study to profile patient-reported symptoms during radiotherapy (RT) or concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for head and neck cancer was performed. The goals were to understand the onset and trajectory of specific symptoms and their severity, identify clusters, and facilitate symptom interventions and clinical trial design. ⋯ The findings from this prospective longitudinal study identified a pattern of local and systemic symptoms, symptom clusters, and symptom interference that was temporally distinct and marked by increased magnitude and a shift in individual symptom rank order during the treatment course. These inform clinicians about symptom intervention needs, and are a benchmark for future symptom intervention clinical trials.