Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2012
Acute effect of palonosetron on electrocardiographic parameters in cancer patients: a prospective study.
Palonosetron is a novel 5-hydroxytryptamine(3) (5 HT(3)) receptor antagonist, which has been shown to be superior to first generation 5 HT(3) receptor antagonists regarding the prevention of acute, delayed and overall chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. First generation 5 HT(3) receptor antagonists may induce electrocardiographic changes of heart rate and repolarization. The acute cardiac effect of palonosteron is unknown. The purpose of this study is to determine acute effects of palonosetron on electrocardiographic (ECG) parameters in cancer patients. ⋯ Palonosetron seems to have no acute arrhythmogenic potential.
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2012
Preferred place of care and place of death of the general public and cancer patients in Japan.
Dying at a favorite place is one of the important determinants for terminally ill cancer patients. The primary aim was to clarify (1) differences in preferred place of care and place of death among the general public across four areas across Japan and (2) preferred place of care and place of death among community-representative cancer patients. A cross-sectional mail survey was conducted on 8,000 randomly selected general population. ⋯ Although there were statistically significant differences in preferred place of care and place of death among the four regions, the absolute difference was less than 8%. Independent determinants of choosing home as place of care included concern about family burden and being unable to adequately respond to sudden changes out of working hours. In conclusion, establishing more accessible home and hospice service is strongly required through arranging regional resources to reduce family burden, alleviating patient-perceived burdens, and improving 24-h support at home.
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2012
Changing preferences for information and participation in the last phase of life: a longitudinal study among newly diagnosed advanced lung cancer patients.
The objective is to explore changes over time in the information and participation preferences of newly diagnosed stage IIIb/IV non-small-cell lung cancer patients. ⋯ Doctors should regularly ask their advanced lung cancer patients how much information and participation they want because preferences do change in unexpected ways.
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2012
What do oncologists want? Suggestions from oncologists on how their institutions can support them in dealing with patient loss.
The purpose of the study was to explore what institutional support(s) oncologists want to help them cope with patient loss. ⋯ Institutions such as medical schools and hospitals have both the opportunity and the obligation to support oncologists with this difficult aspect of their work. In addition to offering ongoing education and forums to share experiences, medical institutions can also provide supportive mentorship models to junior oncologists on how to cope with patient loss.
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2012
Physical compatibility of binary and ternary mixtures of morphine and methadone with other drugs for parenteral administration in palliative care.
The parenteral administration of combinations of drugs is often necessary in palliative medicine, particularly in the terminal stage of life, when patients are no longer able to take medication orally. The use of infusers to administer continuous subcutaneous infusions is a well-established practice in the palliative care setting and enables several drugs to be given simultaneously, avoiding the need for repeated administrations and the effects of peaks and troughs in the doses of medication. ⋯ Despite their frequent use, however, the mixtures of drugs adopted in clinical practice are sometimes not supported by reliable data concerning their chemical and physical compatibility. The present study investigates the chemical compatibility of binary mixtures (morphine with ketorolac) and the physical compatibility of binary (morphine or methadone with ketorolac) or ternary mixtures (morphine with ketorolac and/or haloperidol, and/or dexamethasone, and/or metoclopramide, and/or hyoscine butylbromide) with a view to reducing the aleatory nature of the empirical use of such combinations, thereby increasing their safety and clinical appropriateness.