1,720,976 research outputs found
Nab-paclitaxel in pretreated metastatic breast cancer: evaluation of activity, safety, and quality of life
Full text linkObjective: Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is an incurable disease; the treatment of this
disease prolongs survival, improving the quality of life (QoL) with a balance between efficacy
and toxicity of the treatment. In recent years, treatment with nab-paclitaxel has improved the
already known antitumor activity of conventional paclitaxel, in terms of increased efficacy
and better tolerability. The aim of this study was to evaluate nab-paclitaxel in Italian patients
with MBC.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 90 patients with histologically confirmed diagnosis of MBC. To evaluate the efficacy of nab-paclitaxel, overall survival (OS),
progression-free survival (PFS), and overall response rate were the primary endpoints,
whereas carbohydrate antigen 15.3 (Ca15.3) reduction, QoL, and tolerability were secondary endpoints.
Results: The median OS was 10.4 months, the median PFS was 6.8 months. A considerable
difference Ca15.3 before and after treatment was observed. Descriptive and regression analyses
were done to examine the associations between Ca15.3 response and OS, demonstrating good
correlation, revealing that Ca15.3 reduction is an important predictor of OS.
Conclusion: Nab-paclitaxel is an effective and well-tolerated treatment of patients affected by
MBC. The drug showed an improved tolerability profile. With all the limitations of the observational nature of our results, nab-paclitaxel has proven to be an effective and safe therapeutic
option in patients with MBC
Psychological distress and quality of life in ostomy patients with colorectal cancer: A systematic review of the literature
No full textIntroduction: This research examine the literature related to the psychological state and the quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer. In particular, this study investigates the alterations in patients who have undergone ostomy procedures (colostomy and/or ileostomy). Materials and methods: A systematic research was been carried out through the electronic databases PubMed and Psychinfo. After having identified 1289 scientific articles, a convenient sample of 12 studies were included in the research. Overall, all studies taken into analyses have shown how enterostomy affects the quality of life of stoma patients both after the formation of the stoma and the follow-up. Results: 12 studies examined have demonstrated that several factors influence the quality of life and psychological state. One of the major results was relate to changes in body appearance considered as a strong predictor of various psychological problems including anxiety, depression and distress. Conclusion: These results give healthcare professionals the opportunity to have a wider and clearer view on all aspects related to the quality of life of all patients affected by enterostomy and colorectal cancer
Progression-free survival as a surrogate endpoint of overall survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer
Full text linkBackground: In many clinical trials designed to assess the efficacy of anticancer treatments, overall
survival (OS) is often used as a primary endpoint despite its several points of weakness.
Methods: This study evaluated the role of progression-free survival (PFS) in the first three
lines of treatment as a potential surrogate endpoint of OS in patients with metastatic colorectal
cancer (MCRC). One hundred and twenty patients with MCRC were enrolled in this study. The
median PFS of the first-, second-, and third-lines of treatment and the OS were evaluated. The
correlation between the time to progression and the OS was analyzed. The median PFS of the
three lines of treatment were 8.5, 5, and 3 months, respectively.
Results: The median OS was 32.4 months. A modest correlation was found between the PFS
to the first-line treatment with Folfox–avastin and OS. Similar data were obtained with the
second-line treatment. However, no correlation was found between the PFS and OS during the
third-line treatment. The regression analysis revealed that PFS is predictive of OS.
Conclusion: In brief, the PFS of the first- and second-lines of treatment could be a good candidate as a surrogate endpoint of OS in patients with MCRC
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
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
PRELIMINARY STUDY ON FATIGUE IN BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS
No full textIntroduction. Fatigue is the most common and stressful side effect of cancer and its treatments and it occurs not only during these but it is a condition that can persist even many years after the end anti-cancer treatment (Bower E. et al., 2006) interfering substantially with the activities of daily life of the subject (Lavoy E. et al., 2016; (Fatigoni S. et al.,2015). It has been estimated that between 19% and 38% of cancer survivors experience significant levels of fatigue after treatment (ibidem, 2016). It has been shown that the onset and severity of this syndrome is not related to the type of cancer or treatment variables, making it difficult to identify populations with the greatest risk of fatigue (ibidem, 2016; Bower E. et al., 2006; Jones J.M. et al.,2016). Cancer and its treatments could explain the experience of fatigue during the course of the disease while its presence after the end anti-cancer treatment could be caused not only by the side effects of the treatment but also by the representation of the patient’s illness, a concept linked to the coping strategies used (Corbett T. et al., 2016). Knowledge about the presence of fatigue in breast cancer survivors is very limited. This syndrome has been shown to have a 30% prevalence in breast cancer survivors (Alexander S. et al 2009, Andrykosky M. et al., 2005; Reinertsen K.V. et al., 2010). The aim of the study is to assess the impact of fatigue on breast cancer survivors’ quality of life and to assess the relationship between fatigue and patients’ strategies to cope illness. Method. 30 women breast cancer survivors (in follow-up from 1 to 10 years) were tested with the following instruments: Distress Thermometer, EORTC-C30, MINI MAC and Fatigue Severity Scale. Results. The major results show that there is a negative correlation between the fatigue and quality of life (r = -, 618; p = 0.01) and there is a positive correlation between the fatigue and the “anxious preoccupation” coping style( r =, 462; p = 0.05) and “helplessness-hopelessness” (r =, 478; p = 0.01) but there is a negative correlation between the fatigue and fighting spirit (r = -, 427; p = 0.05). Conclusions. The negative association between fatigue and overall quality of life observed in this and other studies highlights the importance of identifying and treating this group of fatigued women. Results from this study also may be useful in improving specific psychological intervention after the end of anticancer treatment
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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