1,720,997 research outputs found
Seven Shades of Black Thoughts: COVID-19 and Its Psychological Consequences on Cancer Patients
Full text linkAn outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that started in China at the end of 2019 has rapidly spread all over the world. COVID-19 is plaguing people not only physically but also psychologically, and cancer patients are particularly exposed to this emotional threat. Herein, we describe the psychological threats posed by COVID-19 to cancer patients. Our analysis is based on the concerns of our patients during our daily clinical interactions in both outpatient and inpatient settings. We have summarized the patients' psychological issues: logistic overload, loneliness, fear, oxymoronic thoughts, helplessness, frustration, and emotional siege. We describe these psychological threats, provide clinical context for them, and offer practical suggestions for managing them, for the benefit of patients, their caregivers, and clinicians. Our hope is that, by sharing our clinical experience, we can help other oncologists increase their awareness of the psychological impact of the pandemic on cancer patients and implement solutions. Managing these challenges now should translate into improved standards of care when this infective storm is over. Paradoxically, COVID-19 could be an opportunity to learn how to better manage cancer care
Radiation Recall Pneumonitis Anticipates Bilateral Immune-Induced Pneumonitis in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Full text linkRadiation recall pneumonitis (RRP) is a rare inflammatory reaction that occurs in previously irradiated fields, and it may be caused by various triggering agents. Immunotherapy has been reported to potentially be one of these triggers. However, precise mechanisms and specific treatments have not been explored yet due to a lack of data in this setting. Here, we report a case of a patient who received radiation therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for non-small cell lung cancer. He developed first radiation recall pneumonitis and subsequently immune-checkpoint inhibitor-induced pneumonitis (IIP). After presenting the case, we discuss the currently available literature on RRP and the challenges of differential diagnosis between RRP, IIP, and other forms of pneumonitis. We believe that this case is of particular clinical value since it highlights the importance of including RRP in a differential diagnosis of lung consolidation during immunotherapy. Furthermore, it suggests that RRP might anticipate more extensive ICI-induced pneumonitis
Emerging therapies in malignant pleural mesothelioma
Full text linkMalignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare cancer of the pleural surfaces frequently related to asbestos exposure. It is characterized by a poor prognosis even for patients treated with trimodality therapy, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Moreover, the majority of patients are not candidates for surgery due to disease advanced stage or medical comorbidities. For these patients, the survival rate is even lower and few therapeutic options are currently available. Nevertheless, many interesting novel approaches are under investigation, among which immunotherapy represents one of the most promising emerging strategies. In this review, we will discuss the role of new therapeutic options, particularly immunotherapy, and present the results of the most important and promising clinical trials
Treatment of unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer for patients who are under-represented in clinical trials
No full textConcurrent chemoradiotherapy (cCRT) followed by one year of consolidation durvalumab is the current standard-of-care for patients with unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), of good functional status. However, cCRT and consolidation durvalumab may be challenging to administer for selected patient populations underrepresented or even excluded in clinical trials: older and/or frail patients; those with cardiovascular or respiratory comorbidities in which treatment-related adverse events may be higher, and patients with pre-existing autoimmune disorders for whom immunotherapy use is controversial. In this narrative review, we discuss the current evidence, challenges, ongoing clinical trials and potential future treatment scenarios in relevant subgroups of patients with locally advanced NSCLC, who are underrepresented in clinical trials
Alectinib for the treatment of papillary thyroid carcinoma harbouring STRN – ALK fusion
No full textBackground: Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) rearrangement is a rare alteration in differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTCs). Due to its low prevalence, a few evidence are available about the use of ALK inhibitors in advanced DTCs. Methods: We report the case of a striatin (STRN) - ALK translocated advanced thyroid carcinoma. STRN – ALK translocation was detected by NGS – RNA analysis. Results: A 74-year-old woman received first line alectinib for the treatment of a STRN - ALK translocated advanced thyroid carcinoma with symptomatic bilateral lung localizations. The dose of alectinib was progressively reduced due to the toxicity, but the treatment is still ongoing after 17 months with complete radiological response and clinical benefit. Conclusion: Here we report the first case in Europe of STRN - ALK translocated advanced thyroid carcinoma successfully treated with alectinib
Non-small cell lung cancer harboring EGFR G724S mutation and exon 19 deletion responded to afatinib monotherapy after multiple lines of target therapies
No full textEpidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) G724S mutation represents a resistance mechanism to first- and third-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Limited data are available regarding the efficacy of afatinib in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring G724S mutation, particularly after osimertinib. A patient diagnosed with advanced EGFR-mutated (exon 19 deletion) NSCLC after several lines of treatment - gefitinib, osimertinib, heat shock protein inhibitors and chemotherapy-developed EGFR G724S mutation retaining the exon 19 deletion. She was then treated successfully with afatinib leading to a progression free survival of 9 months (and counting). This is the first report of the emergence of G724S mutation, together with ex19del, after three subsequent lines of therapy following progressive disease to Osimertinib, and we report for the first time the activity of afatinib against EGFR exon 18 G724S mutation in this setting
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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