Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2015
Review Meta AnalysisDoes procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, or interleukin-6 test have a role in the diagnosis of severe infection in patients with febrile neutropenia? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
The study aims to determine the usefulness of procalcitonin (PCT) and other blood markers for identification of bacterial infection among patients with febrile neutropenia (FN). ⋯ Of the three potentially useful markers, PCT had the best positive likelihood ratio and can be used to confirm the diagnosis of bacterial infections in patients with FN. Due to unacceptably high negative likelihood ratio, medical decision for stopping antibiotics based on PCT alone in this high-risk population may not be possible.
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2015
Cognitive impairment in testicular cancer survivors 2 to 7 years after treatment.
The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment (CI) in a group of testicular (TC) survivors by comparing their neuropsychological test scores with normative data and to assess their performance in specific cognitive domains. ⋯ The prevalence of CI in TC survivors was unexpectedly high, with survivors performing significantly worse than expected on a majority of the neuropsychological outcomes. While the findings are preliminary in nature, they still have important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of CI in TC survivors.
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2015
Does routine symptom screening with ESAS decrease ED visits in breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy?
In 2007, the provincial cancer agency in Ontario, Canada initiated a wide-scale program to screen for symptoms in the cancer population using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of screening with ESAS on emergency department (ED) visit rates in women with breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. ⋯ Our results demonstrate that screening with ESAS is associated with decreased ED visits. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the effectiveness of routinely documenting a patient reported outcome on ED visits, in a real-world setting.