British journal of cancer
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British journal of cancer · Sep 2012
Are lower rates of surgery amongst older women with breast cancer in the UK explained by co-morbidity?
Around 60% of women ≥ 80 years old, in the UK do not have surgery for their breast cancer (vs<10% of younger age groups). The extent to which this difference can be accounted for by co-morbidity has not been established. ⋯ Although co-morbidity is associated with a reduced likelihood of surgery, it does not explain the shortfall in surgery amongst older women in the UK. Routine data on co-morbidity enables fairer comparison of treatment across population groups but needs to be more complete.
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British journal of cancer · Sep 2012
Dose banding as an alternative to body surface area-based dosing of chemotherapeutic agents.
Dose banding is a recently suggested dosing method that uses predefined ranges (bands) of body surface area (BSA) to calculate each patient's dose by using a single BSA-value per band. Thus, drugs with sufficient long-term stability can be prepared in advance. The main advantages of dose banding are to reduce patient waiting time and improve pharmacy capacity planning; additional benefits include reduced medication errors, reduced drug wastage, and prospective quality control. This study compares dose banding with individual BSA dosing and fixed dose according to pharmacokinetic criteria. ⋯ For the studied drugs, implementation of dose banding should be considered as it entails no significant increase in interindividual plasma exposure.
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British journal of cancer · Sep 2012
Sarcopenia is associated with postoperative infection and delayed recovery from colorectal cancer resection surgery.
Skeletal muscle depletion (sarcopenia) predicts morbidity and mortality in the elderly and cancer patients. ⋯ Sarcopenia predicts postoperative infections, inpatient rehabilitation care and consequently a longer LOS.
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British journal of cancer · Sep 2012
Chronic preoperative pain and psychological robustness predict acute postoperative pain outcomes after surgery for breast cancer.
Few epidemiological studies have prospectively investigated preoperative and surgical risk factors for acute postoperative pain after surgery for breast cancer. We investigated demographic, psychological, pain-related and surgical risk factors in women undergoing resectional surgery for breast cancer. ⋯ Chronic preoperative pain, axillary surgery and psychological robustness significantly predicted acute pain outcomes after surgery for breast cancer. Preoperative identification and targeted intervention of subgroups at risk could enhance the recovery trajectory in cancer survivors.