COLUMBUS, Ohio—Many aspects of cancer patient care can be improved or enhanced with the use of music therapy, said Deforia Lane, PhD, resident director of music therapy, University Hospitals of Cleveland-Ireland Cancer Center/Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, and assistant clinical professor of medicine, Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Lane, a board-certified music therapist, spoke at a conference on cancer survivorship sponsored by the Ohio State University’s James Cancer Center and... More »
Last month, the French AIDS scandal of the 1980s limped to a close with the acquittal of Laurent Fabius, prime minister from 1984 to 1986, and his social affairs minister Georgina Dufoix. The two held office during the period from April to September 1985 when Abbott’s HIV screening test for blood was available but not used in France because, the lawsuit charged, the government chose to wait until a French version of the test was available. More »
The purposes of this study were to determine the clinical importance and relative value of reinterpretation of brain CT studies by subspecialty experts by assessing the accuracy of interpretation by general radiologists at primary stroke centers and to assess interpretive quality outcomes as a function of change in the treatment of patients with stroke diagnoses or acute presentations of suspected stroke.|Computerized medical records for the years 2009-2010 at four major community hospitals were queried for primary interpretation of brain CT studies of stroke patients with an acute presentation of either stroke or suspected stroke as diagnosed by board-certified general radiologists (nonneuroradiologists). A central database was queried that allowed one to query by clinical history or symptoms. Secondary interpretation of images of the identified patient sample was then performed by three experienced neuroradiologists. Each case was initially interpreted as an emergency or urgent
Survivin is overexpressed in major types of cancer and is considered an ideal "universal" tumor-associated antigen that can be targeted by immunotherapeutic vaccines. However, its anti-apoptosis function raises certain safety concerns. Here, a new truncated human survivin, devoid of the anti-apoptosis function, was generated as a candidate tumor vaccine. Interleukin 2 (IL-2) has been widely used as an adjuvant for vaccination against various diseases. Meanwhile, the DNA prime and recombinant adenovirus (rAd) boost heterologous immunization strategy has been proven to be highly effective in enhancing immune responses. Therefore, the efficacy of a new cancer vaccine based on a truncated form of survivin, combined with IL-2, DNA prime, and rAd boost, was tested. As prophylaxis, immunization with the DNA vaccine alone resulted in a weak immune response and modest anti-tumor effect, whereas the tumor inhibition ratio with the DNA vaccine administered with IL-2 increased to 89% and was
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is one of the most common types of non-AIDS-defining tumors in the HIV-infected. Its incidence however seems to have increased under highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART). HIV-HL is a different entity from HL in HIV-negative subjects with a poorer prognosis that is associated with tumor-subtype, EBV-infection, and "B" symptoms. Despite the aggressive nature of the disease, clinical outcome has improved with combination therapies including appropriately timed antiretroviral strategies and the quality of supportive care-notably the use of hematopoietic growth factors. More intensive chemotherapy regimens with or without autologous stem cell transplantation appear to improve survival. Functional imaging such as positron emission tomography and computed tomography (FDG-PET) may help guide treatment strategy and minimize long-term toxicity.
To evaluate the effect of hexaminolevulinate (HAL)-induced fluorescence during resection of noninvasive bladder cancer on tumor recurrence compared with resection under white light.|Between 2008 and 2010, 102 consecutive patients with suspected bladder cancer were randomized to undergo transurethral resection with either conventional white light or combination of white light and HAL-induced fluorescence. Difference in tumor recurrence rate and recurrence-free survival between the 2 groups was evaluated. Subgroup analysis on recurrence-free survival was performed for different tumor parameters.|Cystoscopy at 3 months revealed tumor recurrence in 6 of 45 (13.3%) patients of the white light group compared with only 1 of 41 patients of the HAL group (2.4%) (P < .001). The recurrence-free rates in white light patients at 12 and 18 months were 56.3% and 50.6%, respectively, compared with 91% and 82.5% in HAL patients (P = .0006). In subgroup analyses, recurrence-free survival was similar
Ewing sarcoma is a high-grade round cell sarcoma that affects bones and soft tissues in children and young adults. Its diagnosis can be challenging, and the differential diagnoses include a wide variety of small round cell tumors. CD99 and FLI-1 are the currently accepted immunohistochemical markers for Ewing sarcoma, but their accuracy has been controversial. NKX2.2 is a homeodomain-containing transcription factor that plays a critical role in neuroendocrine/glial differentiation. The NKX2.2 gene was recently identified as a target of EWS-FLI-1, the fusion protein specific to Ewing sarcoma, and was shown to be differentially upregulated in Ewing sarcoma on the basis of array-based gene expression analysis. However, the immunohistochemical diagnostic potential of this marker has not been tested. We immunostained representative sections of 30 genetically confirmed Ewing sarcomas and 130 non-Ewing small round cell tumors by using an antibody to NKX2.2. Nuclear staining in at least 5% of
Primary Care Can't Thrive Without Nurse Practitioners Courtney H. Lyder, ND, May 17, 2013 With a projected shortfall of primary-care physicians, it's time for alternate solutions to patient care. Nurse practitioners are one logical remedy.
