Nat Clin Pract Oncol
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Nat Clin Pract Oncol · Feb 2008
ReviewThe etiology and management of intractable breathlessness in patients with advanced cancer: a systematic review of pharmacological therapy.
Intractable breathlessness is a common, devastating symptom of advanced cancer causing distress and isolation for patients and families. In advanced cancer, breathlessness is complex and usually multifactorial and its severity unrelated to measurable pulmonary function or disease status. Therapeutic advances in the clinical management of dyspnea are limited and it remains difficult to treat successfully. ⋯ Optimum management involves pharmacological treatment (principally opioids, occasionally oxygen and anxiolytics) and nonpharmacological interventions (including use of a fan, a tailor-made exercise program, and psychoeducational support for patient and family) with the use of parenteral opioids and sedation at the end of life when appropriate. Effective care centers on the patient's needs and goals. Priorities in breathlessness research include studies on: neuroimaging, the effectiveness of new interventions, the efficacy, safety, and dosing regimens of opioids, the contribution of deconditioning, and the effect of preventing or reversing breathlessness.
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Nat Clin Pract Oncol · Feb 2008
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialIs oxaliplatin combined with weekly bolus 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin an option for stage II and III colon cancer?