Seminars in oncology
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Despite major advances in cancer biology and therapeutics, cancer and its treatment continue to cause devastating suffering. Patients with advanced cancer most often experience multiple physical and psychological symptom concurrently. We review here some of the common non-pain cancer symptoms, focusing on the assessment and treatment of fatigue, anorexia and cachexia, dyspnea, and symptoms common near the end of life.
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Seminars in oncology · Apr 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialMutagen sensitivity may predict lung protection by amifostine for patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated by chemoradiotherapy.
Amifostine (AMF) has been shown to protect some normal tissues from acute effects of radiation therapy +/- chemotherapy. We enrolled 62 patients in a randomized study investigating the efficacy of AMF: 31 had concurrent chemoradiation for non-small cell lung cancer and 31 had the same treatment + AMF. AMF reduced the frequency and severity of esophagitis, pneumonitis, and neutropenic fever. ⋯ Higher MS was associated with shorter distant metastasis-free survival and more frequent grade 3/4 lung fibrosis. AMF reduced the incidence of grade 3/4 lung fibrosis among higher MS. These data suggest that MS might help identify subgroups of patients who could receive more benefit from AMF with respect to lung damage.
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Current therapeutic approaches for lung cancer favor treatment intensification, with the presumption that dose-intense chemotherapy regimens and/or higher radiation therapy (RT) doses or novel fractionation schemes will result in increased patient survival. Also, the trend for non-operative therapy has favored concurrent over sequential regimens. The incidence of severe acute esophagitis in patients treated for lung cancer with standard (once daily) RT alone is 1.3%, and induction chemotherapy increases the risk of severe acute esophagitis slightly over that of standard RT alone. ⋯ The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) conducted a large phase III, randomized study RTOG 98-01 examining chemoRT with or without the amifostine (Ethyol; MedImmune, Inc, Gaithersburg, MD), a cyto- and radioprotectant in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (n = 243). While amifostine did not significantly reduce severe esophagitis based on National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria and weekly physician dysphagia logs, swallowing dysfunction over time (based on patient diaries, the equivalent of Esophagitis Index) was significantly lower in the amifostine arm ( P = .03). Therefore, significant progress has been accomplished in our understanding of the basis of esophageal injury resulting from thoracic RT, and future effort may find other effective strategies to either minimize or eliminate esophagitis.
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Seminars in oncology · Apr 2005
Amifostine in chemoradiation therapy for non-small cell lung cancer: review of experience and design of a phase II trial assessing subcutaneous and intravenous bolus administration.
Esophagitis is a major complication of chemoradiation therapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, producing significant morbidity and resulting in treatment interruptions. Amifostine at different doses and schedules has been found to reduce frequency or severity of esophagitis in this setting. ⋯ The potential benefits of amifostine may have been obscured by inability to provide full amifostine doses due to toxicity associated with infusion, scheduling of doses, and inadequate follow-up to monitor severity of esophagitis over time. These issues are to be addressed in a randomized phase II trial of amifostine given subcutaneously or via intravenous bolus in non-small cell lung cancer patients undergoing chemoradiation treatment.