Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0015672 (fatigue)
 51,768 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A primary objective of symptom control and supportive care in clinical trials is to improve health-related quality of life. However, in the past, most such clinical trials have concentrated on limited outcomes, such as control of anorexia or pain, and have not taken into account the broader outcome of health-related quality of life. The multidimensional tools needed to carry out these trials are now available, and several studies have yielded results that are informative and useful. These include studies on ameliorating anorexia and weight loss, fatigue and anemia, postchemotherapy nausea and vomiting, and pain from bone metastases. Examples of such studies are given. However, there is still much to learn, and investigators are urged to continue to measure health-related quality of life in clinical trials of symptom control and supportive care.
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PMID:Health-related quality-of-life assessment in clinical trials of supportive care in oncology. 1073 53

Bisphosphonates are potent inhibitors of bone resorption and provide a therapeutic benefit for patients with bone metastases. Zoledronic acid is a highly potent, nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate. In the present trial, we assessed the safety and tolerability of increasing doses of zoledronic acid and its effects on urinary markers of bone resorption in cancer patients with bone metastases. Fifty-nine cancer patients with bone metastases were enrolled sequentially into one of 8 treatment groups in the core protocol. Each patient received a 5-min i.v. infusion of 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.5, 2, 4, or 8 mg zoledronic acid monthly for 3 months. Patients were monitored for clinical findings, adverse events, electrocardiograms, markers of bone resorption, as well as routine hematology, blood chemistries, and urinalysis. Thirty patients who demonstrated a radiographic response to treatment or stable disease in the core protocol were enrolled in a humanitarian extension protocol and continued to receive monthly infusions. Zoledronic acid was well tolerated at all dose levels. Adverse events reported by >10% of patients included skeletal pain, nausea, fatigue, upper respiratory tract infection, constipation, headache, diarrhea, and fever. Three patients in the core protocol and one patient in the extension protocol experienced grade 3 skeletal pain, "flu-like" symptoms, or hypophosphatemia, which were possibly related to treatment; all recovered completely. Adverse events were reported with similar frequency across all of the dosage groups. Zoledronic acid resulted in sustained, dose-dependent decreases in urinary markers of bone resorption. Zoledronic acid was safe and well tolerated and demonstrated potent inhibition of bone resorption.
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PMID:A phase I dose-ranging trial of monthly infusions of zoledronic acid for the treatment of osteolytic bone metastases. 1129 37

A 63-year-old woman underwent modified radical mastectomy with 3 cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, 5-fluorouracil) and MPA endocrine therapy for breast cancer. Because of nausea and general fatigue, she refused to continue this therapy and did not visit the hospital. When she came our hospital and 16 months later, she had developed multiple bone metastases. At the same time, she was suffering from lung tuberculosis. She was treated with toremifene at a dose of 120 mg/day without any side effects. After 3 months administration of toremifene, pain disappeared and her high serum CA15-3 and BCA225 dropped to within the normal range. On bone scintigrams, abnormal accumulation almost disappeared after 9 months of administration of toremifene. In this case, the patient was suffering from lung tuberculosis and did not desire intensive chemotherapy. Administration of high-dose toremifene was effective for multiple bone metastases without any side effects.
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PMID:[A case of breast cancer with multiple bone metastases improved by high-dose toremifene]. 1143 55

Postoperative radiotherapy (RT) forms an intrinsic part of breast conservation therapy, substantially reducing the risk of breast relapse. It is given 4-6 weeks postoperatively using medial and lateral beams to achieve a near homogeneous dose to the breast while minimising the dose to adjacent structures. Typically, a dose of 40 Gy in 15 daily fractions over three weeks or 50 Gy in 25 fractions over five weeks is given, with a boost of 10 Gy using low energy electrons or superficial X-rays. RT is delivered to the chest wall after mastectomy in patients with large tumours (> 5 cm), close surgical margins, or significant axillary node involvement and may result in an additional 10% survival benefit. Early complications of RT include tiredness, skin erythema and moist desquamation. Late reactions, breast fibrosis, telangiectases and peau d'orange are reduced if more treatment fractions are given. Lung irradiation is minimised by careful treatment planning and < 1% of patients experience radiation pneumonitis or pulmonary fibrosis. Patients with locally advanced breast cancer may be offered a combination of systemic therapy, endocrine, chemotherapy and radical RT. Preoperative systemic and radiation therapy reduces the mastectomy rate but at present does not improve survival. Those who are unfit for radical treatment and have large ulcerating or fixed cancers are offered either endocrine or cytotoxic therapy, depending upon the oestrogen receptor status, followed by RT, which is unlikely to cure but may achieve local control for a variable duration. RT forms part of the multidisciplinary approach to palliative treatment for metastatic disease. Bone metastases occur in 75% of women with metastatic disease and RT provides effective pain relief and reducing risk of pathological fractures. Patients with brain metastases need high-dose steroids followed by cranial RT.
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PMID:Radiotherapy for early and advanced breast cancer. 1177 Mar 58

The patient was a 71-year-old man whose chief complaints were staggering and fatigue. As a result of various examinations, he was diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer, Borrmann 3, with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and bone metastases. The DIC was treated with oral administration of TS-1 (120 mg/day). Furthermore, both the primary gastric tumor and metastatic bone lesions were reduced in size by the treatment with TS-1. TS-1 appears to be an effective therapeutic agent for advanced gastric cancer with DIC or bone metastases.
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PMID:[A case of advanced gastric cancer with bone metastases and DIC responding to oral administration of TS-1]. 1285 59

Physical exercise is becoming an accepted part of therapy for many patients with cancer. Exercise may alleviate patients' fatigue and improve physical performance and psychological outlook. Much of the research is limited to women with breast cancer and excludes patients with bone metastases. This article reports on the authors' work in facilitating exercise adherence for patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and bone lesions while they were enrolled in a feasibility/pilot exercise study as they were receiving treatment for their disease in an outpatient treatment program. The exercise program for these patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation consisted of aerobic and strength-building components. The program was home based, and patients performed exercises without direct supervision. On average, the patients completed the six-month exercise prescription 75% of the time. Overall trends showed that all 14 patients in the exercise group improved in several areas of testing, and the test results of all 10 patients in the usual-care group declined. Flexibility and simplicity are essential when designing exercise programs for patients, and encouragement and support also are needed to help patients adhere to prescribed exercise.
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PMID:Facilitating exercise adherence for patients with multiple myeloma. 1460 49

Bone metastases occur in most women with advanced breast cancer and can lead to considerable morbidity and a rapid deterioration in the patient's quality of life. It was the aim of the present study to assess changes in quality of life and bone pain due to intravenous (i.v.) ibandronate, a potent third-generation bisphosphonate. In a phase III randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in patients with bone metastases due to breast cancer, 466 women were randomised to receive placebo, 2 mg ibandronate or 6 mg ibandronate for up to 96 weeks. Treatment was administered i.v. at 3- or 4-weekly intervals. Clinical endpoints included the incidence of adverse events, quality of life (assessed using the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Scale - Core 30 questionnaire (QLQ-C30)), and bone pain (assessed on a 5-point scale from 0=none to 4=intolerable). Ibandronate was generally well tolerated. Compared with baseline measurements, the bone pain score was increased at the last assessment in both the placebo and 2 mg ibandronate groups, but was significantly reduced in the patients receiving 6 mg ibandronate (-0.28+/-1.11, P < 0.001). A significant improvement in quality of life was demonstrated for patients treated with ibandronate (P < 0.05) for all global health status. Overall, at the last assessment, the 6 mg ibandronate group showed significantly better functioning compared with placebo (P = 0.004), and had significantly better scores on the domains of physical, emotional, and social functioning, and in global health status (P < 0.05). Significant improvements in the symptoms of fatigue and pain were also observed in the 6 mg ibandronate group. I.v. ibandronate treatment leads to significant improvements in quality of life, and is an effective and well-tolerated palliative treatment in patients with bone metastases due to breast cancer.
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PMID:Improved quality of life after long-term treatment with the bisphosphonate ibandronate in patients with metastatic bone disease due to breast cancer. 1525 Nov 60

An open-label study conducted in community centers assessed the safety of zoledronic acid 4 mg intravenously over 15 minutes every 3-4 weeks as treatment of bone metastases in patients with multiple myeloma, breast cancer, or prostate cancer with and without previous bisphosphonate exposure. Adverse events (AEs), pain, and quality-of-life (QOL) scores were recorded, and serum creatinine (SCr) levels were measured before each infusion. Of 638 patients, 415 patients (65%) had received prior bisphosphonate therapy. Fatigue, nausea, and arthralgia were the most frequent AEs. Nausea was more common in bisphosphonate-naive patients. SCr levels increased notably in 6.6% of patients: 7.7% of patients who received prior bisphosphonate therapy and 4.5% of bisphosphonate-naive patients. Treatment was delayed because of SCr-level increases in 1.4% of patients with prior bisphosphonate exposure and 0.4% of bisphosphonate-naive patients. SCr-level increases and treatment delays did not correlate with duration of prior bisphosphonate therapy. There was a trend towards more treatment discontinuations in patients with prior bisphosphonate exposure compared with bisphosphonate-naive patients. Pain scores decreased from baseline; total QOL scores remained constant. The results of this study suggest that, with proper SCr-level monitoring, cancer patients with bone metastases who have previously received intravenous bisphosphonate treatment can be safely converted to zoledronic acid therapy.
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PMID:Safety and pain palliation of zoledronic acid in patients with breast cancer, prostate cancer, or multiple myeloma who previously received bisphosphonate therapy. 1556 12

A 71-year-old man complained of dyspnea and general fatigue. His blood tests showed severe renal dysfunction. Computed tomographic scan, bone scintigram, and cystoscopy revealed primary signet ring cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder with multiple bone metastases (cT2N0M1). As the general condition of the patient was poor, nephrostomy was performed. He died one month after the diagnosis due to cancer progression. The prognosis of signet ring cell carcinoma of the bladder is poor because many cases presented at an advanced stage. Fifty cases of signet ring cell carcinoma in the urinary bladder reported in Japan are reviewed.
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PMID:[Primary signet ring cell carcinoma of the bladder: a case report]. 1577 66

Metastatic renal cell cancer is one of the immuno-sensitive tumors. Apart from the immuno-modulating agents IFNalpha and IL-2, thalidomide has been reported to be effective in this type of cancer. However, bone metastases and bulky metastases, show limited response to immunotherapy, are often site of recurrent disease and are therefore often treated later with radiotherapy. In this phase II study, we evaluated toxicity and efficacy of the combination of continuous low dose (1 mIU/m2) s.c. IL-2 and thalidomide (200 mg once daily) in 22 patients with progressive metastatic renal cell cancer. In addition, 13 soft tissue lesions and two bone metastases in 13 patients were concurrently treated with fractionated radiotherapy. T cell number and activation in blood was measured by immunoflowcytometry. Nearly all patients developed grade 1-2 toxicity consisting of fatigue, sensory neuropathy, constipation and dizziness. Five patients had a grade 3-4 toxic event: four patients with deep venous thrombosis requiring anticoagulant therapy, and one patient who developed radiation myelopathy. On systemic response evaluation ten patients showed ongoing SD with a mean progression free survival of 9 months. One patient showed a PR (at an irradiated site). Regarding local response to irradiation, seven lesions showed a PR for a mean time period of 8.7 months, whereas seven were stable for 6 months. The radiation response of one lesion was not evaluable. Immunoflowcytometry showed an increase in number and activation of lymphocytes (mainly Natural Killer--NK-cells), which was absent or even decreased in irradiated patients. The combination of sc. low dose IL-2, thalidomide and radiotherapy is feasible, but relatively toxic and does not lead to higher responses at non-irradiated sites. The combination of immunotherapy and concurrent radiotherapy is effective at 60% of the relatively large evaluable sites. Progressive myelopathy developed in one patient, possibly due to radiotherapy in combination with thalidomide.
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PMID:Prolonged low dose IL-2 and thalidomide in progressive metastatic renal cell carcinoma with concurrent radiotherapy to bone and/or soft tissue metastasis: a phase II study. 1590 25


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