Giving voice to cancer patients: assessing non-specific effects of an integrative oncology therapeutic program via short patient narratives

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Keshet ◽  
Elad Schiff ◽  
Noah Samuels ◽  
Eran Ben-Arye
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Integrative Oncology ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Therapeutic Program ◽  
Patient Narratives

scholarly journals The Current Status of Integrative Oncology in Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 153473542110638
Author(s):  
Eun-Bin Kwag ◽  
Soo-Dam Kim ◽  
Ji Hye Park ◽  
So-Jung Park ◽  
Mi-Kyung Jeong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Integrative Oncology ◽  
Recurrence Rates ◽  
Current State ◽  
Look Ahead

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and Korea is no exception. Humanity has been fighting cancer for many years, and as a result, we now have effective treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. However, there are other issues that we are only now beginning to address, such as cancer patients’ quality of life. Moreover, numerous studies show that addressing these issues holistically is critical for overall cancer treatment and survival rates. This paper describes how Korea is attempting to reduce cancer incidence and recurrence rates while also managing the quality of life of cancer patients. Integrative Oncology is the field that addresses these broad issues, and understanding the current state of integrative oncology in Korea is critical. The goal of this paper is to provide an overview of the current state of integrative oncology in Korea as well as to look ahead to future developments.

scholarly journals Use of Anti-angiogenic Drugs Potentially Associated With an Increase on Serum AST, LDH, CK, and CK-MB Activities in Patients With Cancer: A Retrospective Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Zheng ◽  
Hanzhou Wang ◽  
Wei Hou ◽  
Ying Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Creatine Kinase ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Muscle Injury ◽  
Lactic Dehydrogenase ◽  
Cardiovascular Risks ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Cancer Types ◽  
Myocardial Muscle

Background: There is a large amount of evidence that anti-angiogenic drugs are effective safe. However, few studies have evaluated the specific effects of anti-angiogenic drugs on myocardial enzyme injury biomarkers: aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK) and creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB). The purpose of our study was to determine whether anti-angiogenic drugs serum AST, LDH, CK, and CK-MB activities of cancer patients treated with anti-angiogenic drugs.Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 81 cancer patients. Patients who had used anti-angiogenic drugs were selected. Serum AST, LDH, CK, and CK-MB activities were measured before and after treatment with anti-angiogenic drugs for 3 weeks.Results: A total of 16 cancer types were analyzed. The distribution of the cancer types in the patients was mainly concentrated in lung, gastric, and colorectal cancers. The anti-angiogenic treatment markedly increased AST, LDH, CK, and CK-MB activities by 32.51, 7.29, 31.25, and 55.56%, respectively in serum.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that patients, who had used anti-angiogenic drugs were likely to have elevated AST, LDH, and CK, indicators of myocardial muscle injury. Use of anti-angiogenic drugs should not be assumed to be completely safe and without any cardiovascular risks.

Effect of pretreatment distress on daily fatigue after chemotherapy for breast cancer

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 9090-9090
Author(s):  
S. C. Higgins ◽  
G. H. Montgomery ◽  
D. H. Bovbjerg
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Emotional Distress ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Outpatient Chemotherapy ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Post Infusion ◽  
Time Specific

9090 Background: Fatigue is one of the most frequently reported and aversive side effects of cancer chemotherapy. Prospective research has found that cancer patients’ levels of emotional distress prior to treatment are predictive of other side effects (e.g., nausea), but studies of such effects on fatigue are lacking. The present study prospectively tested the hypothesis that patients’ levels of emotional distress in the clinic prior to their first treatment infusion would predict the severity of their post-infusion fatigue. Methods: Sixty Stage I (32.6%) and II (67.4%) breast cancer patients (mean age=44.5 yrs), receiving standard outpatient chemotherapy (e.g., CMF), participated. The independent variable, emotional distress, was assessed (0–100) with a visual analog scale (VAS). The dependent variable, post treatment fatigue (PTF) was assessed (0–100) over each of the subsequent 6 days using end-of-day diaries, which also included assessment of distress (0–100). To explore temporal specificity, pretreatment distress was assessed for “last night”, “this morning” and “right now.” Results: Consistent with previous reports, PTF levels peaked at day 2 and began to decline after day 3, although they remained elevated across the period (p<.026). Repeated measures analysis indicated a significant main effect of pretreatment distress “right now” on PTF (p<.009); prior distress levels were less predictive. Additional regression analyses, controlling for pretreatment fatigue and daily distress, revealed a strongly selective effect of pretreatment distress on post peak PTF on days 5 (p<.002) and 6 (p<.026). Conclusions: This study is the first to demonstrate time-specific effects of pretreatment distress on PTF. Possible mechanisms of these effects now warrant investigation, as do possible benefits of brief interventions to reduce distress immediately prior to treatment. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

scholarly journals Integrative oncology for breast cancer-patients: Introduction of an expert-based model

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 164
Author(s):  
G. Dobos ◽  
P. Voiss ◽  
I. Schwidde ◽  
A. Paul ◽  
F.J. Saha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Integrative Oncology

scholarly journals Sleep disturbance in cancer patients referred to an ambulatory integrative oncology consultation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santhosshi Narayanan ◽  
Akhila Reddy ◽  
Gabriel Lopez ◽  
Wenli Liu ◽  
Sara Ali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Disturbance ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Integrative Oncology

Natural Language Processing based Medical Needs Extraction for Breast Cancer Patients from Question and Answer Services (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaru Kamba ◽  
Masae Manabe ◽  
Shoko Wakamiya ◽  
Shuntaro Yada ◽  
Eiji Aramaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Unmet Needs ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Patient Needs ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Medical Needs ◽  
Patient Narratives ◽  
Question And Answer

BACKGROUND Currently, a large number of patient narratives are available on various web services. On web question and answer (QA) services, patient questions often relate to medical needs. Therefore, we expect these questions to provide clues to understanding patients’ medical needs. OBJECTIVE This study aims to extract patient needs and classify them into thematic categories. To clarify the patient's needs would be the first step to solve social issues for cancer patients. METHODS The material of this study is patient question texts containing the keyword “breast cancer" in the Yahoo! Japan QA service, Yahoo! Chiebukuro, which contains over 60,000 questions on cancer. First, we convert the question text into a vector representation; then, the relevance between patient needs and existing cancer needs categories are calculated based on cosine similarity. RESULTS The proportion of correct classifications in our proposed method is approximately 70%. We reveal the variation and the number of needs from the results of classifying questions. CONCLUSIONS There are various clinical applications to applying the proposed method such as identifying the side effect signaling of drugs and the unmet needs of cancer patients. Revealing these needs is important to satisfy the medical needs of cancer patients.

scholarly journals Breast Cancer Integrative Oncology Care and Its Costs

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leanna J. Standish ◽  
Fred Dowd ◽  
Erin Sweet ◽  
Linda Dale ◽  
Morgan Weaver ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
First Year ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Integrative Oncology ◽  
Body Therapy ◽  
Oncology Care

Background. Naturopathic oncology in conjunction with conventional treatment is commonly referred to as integrative oncology (IO). Clinics directed by oncology board certified NDs (Fellows of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology or FABNOs) provide high-quality data for describing IO therapies, their costs and measuring clinical outcomes. Purpose. To describe the types of IO therapies prescribed to breast cancer patients by ND FABNO physicians. Study participants (n = 324). Women who sought care at 1 of 6 naturopathic oncology clinics in Washington State were asked to enroll in a prospective 5 year observational outcomes study. Methods. Medical records were abstracted to collect treatment recommendations and cost data. Results. More than 72 oral or topical, nutritional, botanical, fungal and bacterial-based medicines were prescribed to the cohort during their first year of IO care. Trametes versicolor was prescribed to 63% of the women. Mind-body therapy was recommended to 45% of patients, and 49% received acupuncture. Also, 26% were prescribed injectable therapy, including mistletoe, vitamin B complex (12%), IV ascorbate (12%), IV artesunate (7%), and IV nutrition and hydration (4%). Costs ranged from $1594/year for early-stage breast cancer to $6200/year for stage 4 breast cancer patients. Of the total amount billed for IO care for 1 year for breast cancer patients, 21% was out-of-pocket. Conclusions. IO care for women with breast cancer consists of botanical and mushroom oral therapies, parenteral botanical and nutrient therapy, mind-body medicine and acupuncture. IO clinic visits and acupuncture are partially paid for by medical insurance companies.

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