Friday, April 23, 2010
New wellness center to open in Middletown | New England Business Bulletin
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. — Women & Infants Hospital is opening a new wellness center at 333 Valley Road in Middletown this month, as part of its Integrative Care Program.
Operating within the hospital's Program in Women's Oncology, the Center for Health and Well-Being will offer a menu of complementary therapies for oncology patients as well as wellness programming to appeal to all women.
"We will offer the full range of complementary therapies, traditional and innovative health and wellness programming, and a women's health library full of resource materials on a variety of topics, from cancer to infertility to post-partum depression," said Sandra Scuncio, director of the Integrative Care Program.
Lymphedema therapy, specialized massage for women who have had surgery for breast or gynecologic cancer, is one of the treatments that will be offered at the Middletown site. Others include acupuncture, therapeutic massage, reiki, hypnotherapy, guided imagery, reflexology, meditation, facials and skin care.
In addition, there will be programs dedicated to weight loss, exercise, and nutrition, plus lectures, a weight loss clinic and yoga sessions. Eventually, there are plans to offer counseling services for cancer patients.
Funding to establish Newport the site was provided through a grant from the van Beuren Charitable Foundation.
New Articles -- EvidenceUpdates
| Mujoomdar M Moulton K Nkansah E Positron emission tomography (PET) in oncology: a systematic review of clinical effectiveness and indications for use. Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH). 2010 Apr:1-36. (Review) |
| EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Context and Policy Issues In 2008, approximately 166,400 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in Canada. Radiological imaging modalities, including positron emission tomography (PET), are used in the diagnosis, staging, assessment of treatment response, and monitoring of recurrence of cancers. PET is a modality that is used to provide a three-dimensional image of functional changes in the body. PET can be used to track the deposition of radioactive molecules to sites in the body. The most common radioactive tracer is 2-[18F] Fluoro-2-deoxy- D-glucose (FDG). FDG is a glucose analogue that accumulates in tissues with high metabolic activity, such as tumour tissue. In addition to its use in cancer diagnosis, PET is commonly used to determine the stage or extent of disease for various types of cancers. The approach to treating the cancer will depend on the stage. Therefore, accurate information about diagnosis and staging is critical for planning the most appropriate treatment strategy. PET is also used to assess how a person is responding to treatment during or at the end of the treatment, and to monitor if the cancer has recurred after treatment. The use of PET is on the rise, and the number of possible indications for PET use is increasing. Access to PET varies across Canada. With an increasing number of Canadians being diagnosed with cancer each year, there is a need to review the evidence on the clinical effectiveness of PET for oncologic conditions compared with other imaging modalities including computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Research Questions 1. What is the clinical effectiveness of positron emission tomography (PET) in oncology compared to computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) when used as an adjunct to CT or MRI? 2. What are the indications for PET use in oncology? Methods Published literature was obtained by crosssearching PubMed, MEDLINE, and Embase on the OVID search system between 2007 and December 4, 2008. Parallel searches were performed on The Cochrane Library (Issue 4, 2008), and the University of York’s Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) databases. Results were limited to English language publications only. Filters were applied to limit the retrieval to systematic reviews, health technology assessments (HTAs), meta-analyses, and guidelines. The websites of HTA and related agencies were searched, as were specialized databases such as those of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), ECRI Institute, and EuroScan. The Google search engine was used to search for information on the Internet. Two independent reviewers screened articles for selection. This report was peer-reviewed by two clinical experts. Summary of Findings Three HTAs were identified in our literature search. The first HTA assessed the clinical Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in Oncology: A Systematic Review of Clinical Effectiveness and Indications for Use v effectiveness of PET in breast, colorectal, head and neck, lung, lymphoma, melanoma, esophageal, and thyroid cancers. The use of FDG-PET for diagnosis, staging or restaging, and monitoring recurrence and treatment for each cancer type was evaluated. The authors concluded that the highest quality evidence on the clinical effectiveness of PET was in the detection of distant metastases, staging or restaging of colorectal cancer, detection of solitary pulmonary nodules, staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and restaging of Hodgkin disease. The second HTA reviewed the use of PET in monitoring the treatment response among women with breast cancer. The evidence suggested that PET may be useful in the identification of patients with advanced breast cancer who are not responding to neoadjuvant treatment and patients with metastatic disease who are responding to treatment. The third HTA examined the use of PET for monitoring the response to treatment of Hodgkin disease and non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs). The authors concluded that a positive PET scan (specific uptake of FDG) during the monitoring of treatment of response is predictive of death or disease progression. Ten systematic reviews and three metaanalyses were indentified in our literature search. Overall, the systematic reviews and meta-analyses concluded that PET had the highest accuracy for the detection of cancers originating in the lung, pancreas, head and neck region, and cancers of unknown primary origin. PET was effective in the staging or restaging of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, head and neck cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma, and melanoma. The systematic reviews and meta-analyses described the clinical effectiveness of PET for the detection of lymphoma, residual or recurrent breast cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer, and thyroid cancer. PET was not |
In research: Medical News: AACR: Urinary Markers May Flag Ovarian Cancer - in Meeting Coverage, AACR from MedPage Today
Note: in research
"WASHINGTON -- A combination of patient age and urinary biomarkers predicted a 95% probability of ovarian cancer, according to a study reported here....."
In research: Medical News: AACR: Gene Copy Number May Predict Success in Ovarian Cancer - in Meeting Coverage, AACR from MedPage Today
Note: in research:
WASHINGTON -- The number of copies of certain genes -- especially those that are associated with apoptosis -- may signal whether a patient with ovarian cancer will respond to therapy, researchers suggested here.
Evaluating women with ovarian cancer for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations: missed opportunities.
CONCLUSION: Although dictated family history was accurate, interpretation of risk for BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations and subsequent referral to genetic counseling was poor. Although there was significant improvement over time, 50% of substantial-risk patients still were missed. Systematic efforts to identify those ovarian cancer patients at substantial risk for a BRCA1 or BRCA2 are necessary.
Different anthracycline derivates for reducing cardiotoxicity in cancer patients. Cochrane Collaboration Database Systematic Review
CONCLUSIONS:
We are not able to favour either epirubicin or doxorubicin when given with the same dose. Based on the currently available evidence on heart failure, we conclude that in adults with a solid tumour liposomal-encapsulated doxorubicin should be favoured over doxorubicin. For both epirubicin versus doxorubicin and liposomal-encapsulated doxorubicin versus conventional doxorubicin no conclusions can be made about the effects of treatment in children treated with anthracyclines and also not in patients diagnosed with leukaemia. More research is needed. For other combinations of anthracycline derivates not enough evidence was available to make definitive conclusions about the occurrence of cardiotoxicity in patients treated with anthracyclines.
CCardiology
Probably an important review but it would have been more helpful for the general practitioner if the authors also reviewed or at least discussed the role of ACE-Inhibitors given before anthracycline treatment in these patients.ommentary (1) at present:
Abstract/free full access: Comparison of numerical and verbal rating scales to measure pain exacerbations in patients with chronic cancer pain
Background
Numerical rating scales (NRS), and verbal rating scales (VRS) showed to be reliable and valid tools for subjective cancer pain measurement, but no one of them consistently proved to be superior to the other. Aim of the present study is to compare NRS and VRS performance in assessing breakthrough or episodic pain (BP-EP) exacerbations.
repost: Advanced ovarian carcinoma: Does a high-dose short-duration schedule of paclitaxel trump prolonged low-dose therapy? - Cancer Network
Ovarian Cancer
Oncology NEWS International. Vol. 19 No. 4
Pages: 1 2
Point / Counterpoint
"Advanced ovarian carcinoma: Does a high-dose short-duration schedule of paclitaxel trump prolonged low-dose therapy?"
Colon Cancer: Microsatellite instability stymies doctors - Cancer Network
Note: MSI has been/is being studied also in ovarian cancer (w/without Lynch Syndrome genes)
PharmaMar Presents New Clinical Trials With Three Marine-Based Drugs at the American Association for Cancer Research Convention - yondelis/Trabectedin
Two trials provided new data on Yondelis(R) (trabectedin), a marine-based anti-tumor drug currently produced by chemical synthesis. Yondelis(R) (trabectedin) has European Commission approval for advanced and metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (STS) and for recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer in combination with Doxil/Caelyx
IOM releases recommendations for cancer clinical trials | HemOncToday
"After the release of the report, Richard L. Schilsky, MD, immediate past president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology released a statement.
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