The Neutropenic Diet Reviewed: Moving Toward a Safe Food Handling Approach
June 15th 2012Review of the pathophysiology of foodborne illness and pertinent studies about the neutropenic diet lead to the conclusion that there is no clear benefit from the longstanding dietary restrictions that may be imposed during neutropenia. Instead, we propose adoption of standard safe food handling methods to allow for a more liberalized diet in the neutropenic patient.
ASCO: Controversies in Prostate Cancer-PSA Screening
June 3rd 2012The underlying cost debate surrounding the issue of whether or not to recommend prostate cancer screening is based on the idea that if you use healthcare resources in one area, they’re being diverted from another area by nature of their being a limited pool of funding.
The Debility of Fatigue in Older Cancer Patients
May 10th 2012Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in older adults is amenable to resolution by nursing oversight that includes early assessment and the selection of appropriate management approaches. Oncology nurses working with older patient populations at high-risk for CRF should partner with rehabilitation colleagues to create and test exercise interventions that reduce the burden of this common symptom.
Integrative Medicine: Not Just Garnish
May 9th 2012We still have much to do to fully understand the potential of complementary therapies as important elements in cancer treatment and health. Mind-body and body-based interventions may be able to improve health and prevent disease as effectively as pharmacologic agents-without the toxicities associated with pharmacologics, and as adjuncts to pharmacologic therapies they may help to maximize health and diminish disease with less toxicity.
The Patient With Cancer Cachexia
May 9th 2012Many cancer patients experience cachexia. In collaboration with an interdisciplinary team including dietitians, oncology nurses are well positioned to implement proactive, multimodality interventions that improve clinical outcomes and quality of life for these patients.
Radiofrequency Ablation as Effective as Radiation Therapy in Breast Cancer Patients
May 7th 2012New data presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons shows radiofrequency ablation can prevent local breast cancer recurrence just as effectively as radiation therapy. Compared to radiation therapy, radiofrequency ablation showed superior cosmetic results and poses little risk to healthy tissue.
Locoregional Control of Bladder Cancer: Chemoradiation Tops Radiotherapy in UK Study
April 30th 2012In a multicenter phase III trial of 360 patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer, synchronous chemoradiotherapy provided better locoregional control without significant added toxicity, investigators for the Bladder Cancer 2001 trial have found.
The Information Age, Cyberspace, and Cancer
April 17th 2012Oncologists and their patients are facing disruptive changes in healthcare, research, and communication. This dramatic increase in the quantity and quality has changed our lives forever. However, many of us remain frustrated with our inability to control this information overload.
Radium-223: Down to the Bone, and Less Is More
April 17th 2012Radium-223 is a promising agent that represents a new class of alpha pharmaceuticals that gets down to the site of bony metastases. The limited side-effect profile potentially allows for repeat administration to increase durability of pain control, and for its use in combination with novel biologic and chemotherapeutic agents.
Multimodal Approach to Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer
April 15th 2012In this article, we endeavor to clarify the role of radiation therapy and chemotherapy in the treatment of ATC; we note important contributions of the historical literature, and we review more contemporary strategies adopted by several renowned institutions.