Articles: cancer.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2013
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyAn open-label extension study to investigate the long-term safety and tolerability of THC/CBD oromucosal spray and oromucosal THC spray in patients with terminal cancer-related pain refractory to strong opioid analgesics.
Chronic pain in patients with advanced cancer poses a serious clinical challenge. The Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)/cannabidiol (CBD) oromucosal spray (U.S. Adopted Name, nabiximols; Sativex(®)) is a novel cannabinoid formulation currently undergoing investigation as an adjuvant therapy for this treatment group. ⋯ This study showed that the long-term use of THC/CBD spray was generally well tolerated, with no evidence of a loss of effect for the relief of cancer-related pain with long-term use. Furthermore, patients who kept using the study medication did not seek to increase their dose of this or other pain-relieving medication over time, suggesting that the adjuvant use of cannabinoids in cancer-related pain could provide useful benefit.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Web-based self-monitoring for weight loss among overweight/obese women at increased risk for breast cancer: the HELP pilot study.
Excess weight and physical inactivity are modifiable risk factors for breast cancer. Training women to use self-help resources over the internet has potential for reducing intervention costs and enhancing maintenance. ⋯ A program to train women to use web-based weight loss tools achieved a substantial short-term weight loss among the majority of participants. Further follow-up is needed to assess weight loss maintenance over time.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialDoes assessing patients' expectancies about chemotherapy side effects influence their occurrence?
Increasing evidence suggests a link between patients' expectancies and post-chemotherapy side effects. However, it remains unclear whether asking patients about their expectancies might actually increase side effects. ⋯ These findings suggest that patient expectancies might be a useful point of intervention for attempting to reduce the burden of chemotherapy-related side effects, as there do not appear to be any detrimental effects of asking patients to report their expectancies and their expectancies do appear related to the occurrence of post-treatment side effects.
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Palliative medicine · Jun 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialCommunicating advanced cancer patients' symptoms via the Internet: a pooled analysis of two randomized trials examining caregiver preparedness, physical burden, and negative mood.
Using available communication technologies, clinicians may offer timely support to family caregivers in managing symptoms in patients with advanced cancer at home. ⋯ This study provides new evidence that by using an online symptom reporting system, caregivers may experience less emotional distress due to the Clinician Report's timely communication of caregiving needs in symptom management to clinicians.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Factors associated with attrition from a randomized controlled trial of meaning-centered group psychotherapy for patients with advanced cancer.
The generalizability of palliative care intervention research is often limited by high rates of study attrition. This study examined factors associated with attrition from a randomized controlled trial comparing meaning-centered group psychotherapy (MCGP), an intervention designed to help advanced cancer patients sustain or enhance their sense of meaning to the supportive group psychotherapy (SGP), a standardized support group. ⋯ These findings highlight the challenge of maintaining advanced cancer patients in longitudinal research and suggest the need to consider alternative approaches (e.g., telemedicine) for patients who might benefit from group interventions but are too ill to travel.