nutrition in cancer pain

In 2015, the Australasian Pancreatic Club (APC) published the Australasian guidelines for the management of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (http://pancreas.org.au/2016/01/pancreatic-exocrine-insufficiency-guidelines). Pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PEI) occurs when normal digestion cannot be sustained due to insufficient pancreatic digestive enzyme activity. This may be related to a breakdown, at any point, in the pancreatic digestive chain: pancreatic stimulation; synthesis, release or transportation of pancreatic enzymes; or synchronisation of secretions to mix with ingested food...

BACKGROUND: The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) is an interdisciplinary protocol, aiming to ensure that dying patients receive dignified and individualized treatment and care at the end-of-life. LCP was originally developed in 1997 in the United Kingdom from a model of cancer care successfully established in hospices. It has since been introduced in many countries, including Norway. The method was withdrawn in the UK in 2013. This review investigates whether LCP has been adapted and validated for use in nursing homes and for dying people with dementia...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Summarize key clinical advances in chronic pancreatitis reported in 2016. RECENT FINDINGS: Early diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis remains elusive. Recent studies suggest that endoscopic ultrasound may be less accurate than previously thought and new MRI techniques may be helpful. Genetic predisposition may independently affect the clinical course of chronic pancreatitis and the risk for pancreatic cancer. Cigarette smoking may have a greater negative impact on chronic pancreatitis than previously thought and moderate alcohol consumption may be protective...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to develop and validate a preoperative prognostic model for death within one year post-surgery in patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). METHODS: A derivation cohort study of 296 patients who underwent surgical resection of PDAC was prospectively enrolled in an observational study. Preoperative predictors of one year mortality were used to develop a risk score which was then validated in an external cohort of 182 patients with resectable PDAC...

RATIONALE: Drug-induced pancreatitis (DIP) is a rare type of pancreatitis that is not usually observed in the clinical practice. It is generally difficult to distinguish from acute pancreatitis (AP) induced by other causes. PATIENT CONCERNS: Here, we report a 62-year-old Chinese female patient with "small cell lung cancer" as the initial presentation. Because the patient could not bear the surgical treatment, the chemotherapy composed of lobaplatin and etoposide was performed...

The intensity of the available treatment approaches for locally-advanced head and neck cancer (HNC) is at the upper limit of tolerance of acute toxicities. Several factors including breakthrough cancer pain, mucositis, dysphagia, local and systemic infections, and nutritional problems are related to treatment intensity. Particularly, pain, as symptom directly associated with the disease or combined with other treatment-related factors, has a major impact on quality of life of HNC patients and ultimately can influence the efficacy of treatments in HNC...

The basis of any complementary therapy should be the recommendation of a healthy lifestyle (diet, nutrition, exercise, stress-reduction), and appropriate self-help techniques (e. g. thermotherapy, herbal OTC-products) aimed at releasing the patients' most debilitating symptoms. For therapy-resistant or strong symptoms, more invasive interventions or medical treatments with an acceptable evidence base can be used (e. g. acupuncture for cancer pain, herbal prescriptions). The effects of any complementary intervention should be controlled for a period of six weeks after its administration...

BACKGROUND: Higher survival rates for breast cancer patients have led to concerns in dealing with short- and long-term side effects. The most common complications are impairment of shoulder functions, pain, lymphedema, and dysesthesia of the injured arm; psychological consequences concern: emotional distress, anxiety, and depression, thereby, deeply impacting/affecting daily living activity, and health-related quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To perform a systematic review for assessing the efficacy or effectiveness of interventions aiming at improving health-related quality of life, return to daily activity, and correct lifestyles among breast cancer patients...

We describe the characteristics of patients attending an Australian tertiary multidisciplinary pain service and identify areas for nutrition interventions. This cross-sectional study targets patients experiencing chronic pain who attended the service between June-December 2014. Self-reported data was captured from: (1) an Electronic Persistent Pain Outcomes Collaboration (ePPOC) referral questionnaire, incorporating demographics, pain status, and mental health; (2) a Pain Assessment and Recovery Plan (PARP), which documents patients' perceived problems associated with pain and personal treatment goals...

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the cancers with poorest prognosis and represents the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Western countries. Despite advances in diagnostic procedures and treatment, diagnosis is made in most cases when the disease is locally advanced or metastatic. Supportive care aims to improve symptoms, reduce hospital admission rates, and preserve quality of life. Proper symptomatic management is critical to allow administration of chemotherapy and radiotherapy...

Malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) occurs in between 3% and 15% of patients with cancer, and portends a poor mean survival of four weeks for patients who are not able to undergo operative intervention. Surgical interventions may be fraught with complications since these patients typically have compromised nutritional status and progressive metastatic disease burden, with tumor type and degree of aggressiveness affecting outcomes. MBO is a dynamic and difficult process to treat, with adequate pain control being limited by unpredictable enteral absorption and need for prolonged parenteral analgesia (given limited enteral access) with its inherent risks...

Many studies examining the quality of life of stoma patients utilize questionnaires that have not been validated specifically for these patients in their native language. Owing to the large and increasing prevalence of intestinal stomas, a cross-sectional study was conducted among patients of a stoma patient health care service in Juiz de Fora, Brazil between September 2014 and August 2015 to validate the Stoma Quality of Life (Stoma-QoL) questionnaire in Portuguese (Brazilian variant). In addition, the effect of sociodemographic, clinical, and eating habit variables on the quality of life of people with a colostomy or ileostomy was assessed...

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BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Oral mucositis and esophagitis are common acute toxicities of radiotherapy (RT) for head and neck cancer (HNC). In order to decrease the rates of these toxicities, we compared quality of life in HNC patients that did and did not receive a glutamine and arginine-enriched solution (GAES) during RT. METHODS: A total of 29 patients received intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT); 15 used GAES b.i.d. during the treatment, and a matched cohort of 14 patients did not...

BACKGROUND: Effective and reliable venous access is one of the cornerstones of modern medical therapy in oncology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective observational study, which collected data of patients who require "PORT" catheter insertion for any cancer, at a tertiary care oncology hospital in Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India, during a 2-year period. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study was to study the various complications and outcomes related to "PORT" catheters...

BACKGROUND: Alvimopan is used in abdominal surgery to reduce postoperative ileus in patients undergoing small bowel resections with primary anastomosis. The role and efficacy of alvimopan in patients undergoing radical cystectomy with urinary diversion is not well understood. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of alvimopan in the context of enhanced recovery pathways compared to enhanced recovery pathways alone for perioperative bowel dysfunction in patients undergoing radical cystectomy...

Dwarf elder ( Sambucus ebulus L) is one of the best known medicinal herbs since ancient times. In view of its benefits as a widely applicable phytomedicine, it is still used in folk medicine of different parts of the world. In addition to its nutritional values, dwarf elder contains different phytochemicals among which flavonoids and lectins are responsible for most of its therapeutic effects. Dwarf elder has been used for different ailments including: joint pains, cold, wounds, and infections. Nevertheless, recent evidence has revealed its potentials for making attempts at treating cancer and metabolic disorders...

BACKGROUND: Patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer can have significant dysphagia. Nutritional support during neoadjuvant therapy is often delivered via nasoenteric or percutaneous feeding tubes. These approaches do not allow for per-oral feeding. AIMS: Evaluate the safety and efficacy of fully covered self-expanding metal esophageal stents for nutritional support during neoadjuvant therapy. METHODS: This was a pilot, prospective study at a single tertiary center...

INTRODUCTION: A multidisciplinary approach in the management of complex malignancies is becoming more common, and likewise, adopting such an approach to the care of patients with locally advanced esophageal is recommended in order to optimize clinical outcomes. METHODS: In this review, we discuss both the surgical and medical oncology perspectives in the management of patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer. We review the data supporting the current standard-of-care approach, namely trimodality therapy with neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy followed by surgery...

Multiple myeloma accounts for 1.6% of all cancer cases and approximately 10% of hematologic malignancies in the United States. In 2015, an estimated 28,850 new cases of multiple myeloma were diagnosed in the United States, and the disease caused more than 11,000 deaths. Patients older than 65 years account for 85% of those diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and there is a twofold increased incidence in blacks compared with whites. Patients may present with bone pain or with symptoms that are often nonspecific, such as nausea, vomiting, malaise, weakness, recurrent infections, and weight loss...