Disease relevance of Palliative Care

• In another group of 39 patients with metastatic breast cancer who received palliative therapy, a limited correlation was noted between the clinical course of the disease and changes in TPA and CEA values measured in linear fashion [1].
• CONCLUSION: This study suggests that eflornithine alone is an effective palliative therapy for recurrent anaplastic gliomas [2].
• Patients with myelodysplastic syndromes benefit from palliative therapy with amifostine, pentoxifylline, and ciprofloxacin with or without dexamethasone [3].
• PURPOSE: To compare 6% miltefosine solution (Miltex; Asta Medica, Frankfurt, Germany), a new topical cytostatic drug, with placebo as palliative treatment for cutaneous metastases from breast cancer [4].
• CONCLUSION: Intrapleural bleomycin is more effective than IFN and is a valid option for the palliative treatment of massive, rapidly recurrent malignant pleural effusions [5].

Psychiatry related information on Palliative Care

• This paper examines inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AchE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuchE) by tetrahydroaminoacridine (THA), an acridine analog under consideration for palliative treatment of Alzheimer's dementia [6].
• As a once-monthly intramuscular injection, administered during clinic visits, fulvestrant offers patient compliance advantages, making this new hormonal agent a viable therapeutic option for the palliative treatment of postmenopausal women with endocrine-responsive advanced breast cancer [7].
• Depressive symptoms in advanced cancer. Part 2. Depression over time; the role of the palliative care professional [8].
• The commonality and synchronicity of mental health nurses and palliative care nurses: closer than you think? Part two [9].
• This article reviews the use of modafinil in palliative care, and its use in promoting vigilance and wakefulness [10].

High impact information on Palliative Care

• JAMA patient page. Palliative care [11].
• The Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999: a serious threat to palliative care [12].
• METHODS: In a randomized trial of palliative treatment in advanced SCLC, oral etoposide (100 mg given twice daily for 5 days) was compared with intravenous chemotherapy consisting of alternating cycles of cisplatin and etoposide (PE) and cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and vincristine (CAV) [13].
• The results suggest that hepatic arterial embolization is an effective palliative treatment that prolongs survival of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma [14].
• Discussing palliative care with patients. ACP-ASIM End-of-Life Care Consensus Panel. American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine [15].

Chemical compound and disease context of Palliative Care

• Tamoxifen citrate has recently been shown to be effective palliative therapy in advanced endometrial carcinoma [16].
• Pamidronate is a useful adjunct to standard chemotherapy in the palliative treatment of metastatic breast cancer [17].
• Mitoxantrone is also effective as a component of predominantly palliative treatment regimens for hepatic and advanced ovarian carcinoma [18].
• The pharmacokinetics of 186Re-HEDP, a radiopharmaceutical for palliative treatment of metastatic bone pain, was investigated in 11 patients (17 studies) who suffered from metastatic breast or prostate cancer [19].
• Iodine-131-labeled diphosphonates for palliative treatment of bone metastases: II. Preliminary clinical results with iodine-131 BDP3 [20].

Biological context of Palliative Care

• Oral acyclovir, palliative therapy for genital herpes: will it change the epidemiology [21]?
• Because of this antiglucocorticoid effect, mifepristone has been employed successfully in the palliative treatment of hypercortisolism due to Cushing's syndrome, and its use has been proposed for treating certain forms of depression and of glaucoma, and in wound healing [22].

Anatomical context of Palliative Care

• There was no correlation between Ki-67 derived proliferative score and known prognostic parameters, including Dukes stage, New Prognostic Classification grade, lymph node status, tumour differentiation, venous spread, invasive margin, lymphocytic infiltrate, and curative versus palliative surgery [23].
• CONCLUSION: Intra-arterial hepatic injection of 131I-labeled iodized oil is a safe and effective palliative treatment of HCC with portal vein thrombosis [24].
• His bundle ablation has been proposed as a palliative treatment to treat symptoms and prevent development of tachycardia-mediated cardiomyopathy [25].
• A case series of inferior vena cava stenting for lower limb oedema in palliative care [26].
• Recurrent and metastatic clivus chordoma: systemic palliative therapy retards disease progression [27].

Associations of Palliative Care with chemical compounds

• PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients in international palliative care clinics with pain requiring initiation of strong opioids were randomly assigned to receive methadone (7.5 mg orally every 12 hours and 5 mg every 4 hours as needed) or morphine (15 mg sustained release every 12 hours and 5 mg every 4 hours as needed) [28].
• In this report, we review the use of methylphenidate in the palliative care of patients with cancer [29].
• Oxaliplatin may be a palliative treatment option for this patient population, and evaluation in combination regimens is warranted [30].
• The use of radiolabelled metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) and 111In octreotide as potential therapeutic agents has been explored and may be potentially useful in palliative care [31].
• Our results emphasise once again the marked efficacy and low rate of complications associated with oral and parenteral analgesic therapy as the mainstay of pain treatment in the palliative care of patients with advanced cancer [32].

Gene context of Palliative Care

• Ionizing radiation causes a dose-dependent release of transforming growth factor alpha in vitro from irradiated xenografts and during palliative treatment of hormone-refractory prostate carcinoma [33].
• The anti-AChE efficacy of bis(7)-tacrine was quite similar following an oral or i.p. administration, but tacrine showed much lower efficacy when administered orally than when given i.p. These findings suggest bis(7)-tacrine, a highly potent and selective inhibitor of AChE, can probably be used as an improved drug in the palliative treatment of AD [34].
• According to preliminary data, this study demonstrates that intracavitary administration of cytokines, including IL-2, IFN alpha and -beta, is a new well-tolerated palliative therapy for malignant effusions, with an efficacy substantially comparable to that described with the most commonly used treatments with tetracyclines or cytostatic agents [35].
• In patients who underwent palliative surgery, the serum MCP-1 level significantly decreased postoperatively, whereas in patients who underwent curative surgery the serum MCP-1 level tended to increase [36].
• Meloxicam and selective COX-2 inhibitors in the management of pain in the palliative care population [37].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Palliative Care

• CONCLUSION: Placement of a polyurethane-covered expandable nitinol stent seems to be technically feasible and effective for palliative treatment of inoperable malignant gastroduodenal obstructions [38].
• CONCLUSION: Percutaneous sclerotherapy with doxycycline is safe and appears effective for palliative treatment of unresectable lymphangiomas on the basis of our initial clinical experience [39].
• HIF-1alpha overexpression may predict resistance to CRT and may be a helpful guide in choosing between therapeutic strategies, such as intensive combined modality therapy vs. palliative therapy [40].
• Combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy (cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil) as palliative treatment for localized unresectable or adjuvant treatment for resected pancreatic adenocarcinoma: results of a feasibility study [41].
• Thirty-four normocalcaemic patients with painful progressing bone metastases (22 from breast, five prostate and seven others) received a single intravenous infusion of 120 mg of pamidronate as palliative therapy [42].

References