Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0027497 (nausea)
 23,468 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Hypercalcemia associated with malignancies is reported in up to 20 to 30% of patients with cancer during the course of the disease, and points to a poor prognosis. Symptoms related to the central nervous system, as progressive mental impairment, stupor and coma, predominate. Alterations in kidney function (water-concentrating defect leading to polyuria) and gastrointestinal tract (anorexia, nausea, vomiting) corroborate to dehydration and a further increase in serum calcium. Cancer-induced hypercalcemia may be classified as: 1) local osteolytic hypercalcemia (LOH), due to marked increase in osteoclastic bone resorption in areas surrounding the malignant cells within the marrow space; 2) humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy, caused by the secretion of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) by the malignant tumor; 3) ectopic hyperparathyroidism; 4) 1,25(OH)2 D-secreting tumors. Adequate control of hypercalcemia is necessary to give the patient time to respond to anti-cancer therapy. Volume expansion with saline will correct dehydration, improve glomerular filtration and increase urinary calcium excretion, which may be further stimulated by loop diuretics. Intravenous bisphosphonates are the most effective agents to control hypercalcemia, as they block osteoclastic osteolysis and also have antitumoral effects, decreasing bone metastases. New approaches to control the skeletal manifestations of malignancies are anti-PTHrP and anti-RANKL antibodies, osteoprotegerin, and also proteasome inhibitors in the case of multiple myeloma.
 ...
PMID:[Hypercalcemia of malignancy: clinical features, diagnosis and treatment]. 1644 66

Case 1: A 34-year-old woman,who had a right breast cancer with axillary lymph node metastasis and multiple bone metastases, was referred to our clinic. She developed paralysis of lower extremities and disorder of the bladder and rectum due to metastasis to the thoracic vertebra, and also had renal dysfunction due to severe hypercalcemia and hemorrhagic cystitis. Correcting the serum calcium level with intravenous infusion, elcatonin, pamidronate and betamethasone, she underwent radiation therapy for the vertebral metastasis. The first hormonal therapy (leuprorelin/exemestane) had been effective for about 4 months, however the second hormonal therapy (leuprorelin/tamoxifen) was not effective. Chemotherapy with paclitaxel (80 mg/m(2), day 1, 8, 15, every 4 weeks) brought about a stable general condition and a normal level of serum calcium with zoledronate in the ninth month of treatment. Case 2: A 32-year-old woman, who had a right breast cancer with multiple bone metastases and axillary and hilar lymph node metastases, came to our clinic, complaining of nausea due to severe hypercalcemia. After successful correction of hypercalcemia by the intravenous infusion and administration of elcatonin, pamidronate and dexamethasone, the hormonal therapy(goserelin/tamoxifen) caused rapid re-elevation of serum calcium and tumor marker, so that a tumor flare was suspected. After 3 cycles of EC therapy (EPI 90 mg/m(2), CPM 600 mg/m(2), every 3 weeks), 2 cycles of paclitaxel therapy (80 mg/m(2), day 1, 8, 15, every 4 weeks) brought about tumor reduction and the normal level of serum calcium. After 7 cycles of paclitaxel therapy,the hormonal therapy (goserelin/tamoxifen) proved effective for several months. To achieve tumor reduction and stabilize the serum calcium level, we need to start immediately the treatment of breast cancer with severe hypercalcemia, considering the general condition of the patient.
 ...
PMID:[Two cases of stage IV breast cancer with severe hypercalcemia]. 1648 60

Radiotherapy (R/T) is frequently used for palliative treatment of painful bone metastases; however, complete alleviation of pain is not always achieved. This study was designed to evaluate pain management outcomes and quality of life (QoL) measures in cancer patients with metastatic bone pain receiving a combination of R/T and either transdermal therapeutic fentanyl (TTS-F) patches or codeine/paracetamol. A total of 460 palliative care patients with bone metastases who received R/T were enrolled in this prospective, open-label study. The patients were randomized to initially receive a total dose of 120 mg codeine/paracetamol per day or TTS-F patches releasing 25 microg fentanyl per hour. Pain measures were assessed on the basis of selected questions from the Greek-Brief Pain Inventory. Overall treatment satisfaction (scale, 1 to 4), QoL, and European Collaborative Oncology Group status were also recorded. Among the 460 patients, 422 were eligible for evaluation. Pain measures in the TTS-F group demonstrated statistically significant improvements during the study that were superior to those in the codeine/paracetamol group (p < 0.05). Likewise, there was a significantly greater increase (p < 0.05) in the mean satisfaction score for patients in TTS-F group at every visit between baseline and month two. The vast majority (95.8 percent) of patients in the codeine/paracetamol group increased their medication dosage until the end of the study, whereas in the TTS-F group the respective percentage was only 6.1. Both treatments were generally well tolerated, with constipation as the most common side effect followed by sleep disturbances and nausea. The overall frequencies of side effects were higher in the codeine/paracetamol group. The results therefore indicate that TTS-F offers more effective pain relief than codeine/paracetamol, in combination with R/T, in patients with metastatic bone pain, obtaining complete treatment satisfaction matched by improvements in their QoL.
 ...
PMID:Comparison of transdermal fentanyl with codeine/paracetamol, in combination with radiotherapy, for the management of metastatic bone pain. 1731 48

A 60-year-old woman was diagnosed with esophageal small cell carcinoma in October 2004 and received chemotherapy. However, the tumor grew gradually and multiple bone metastases occurred. Anorexia, nausea, emesis, numbness in both hands, and disturbed consciousness developed at the end of January 2006, and the patient was admitted to Fukushima Medical University Hospital. Abdominal pain, marked hypercalcemia and hyperamylasemia were noted and the patient was diagnosed with severe acute pancreatitis. Because the level of blood parathyroid hormone-related protein was elevated, we considered that esophageal small cell carcinoma caused human hypercalcemia of malignancy and that metastatic bone tumors caused local osteolytic hypercalcemia, eventually leading to severe acute pancreatitis. This is an extremely rare case of esophageal small cell carcinoma associated with hypercalcemia causing severe acute pancreatitis.
 ...
PMID:A case of esophageal small cell carcinoma associated with hypercalcemia causing severe acute pancreatitis. 1795 66

The aim of supportive care in oncology is to treat the cancer related symptoms and to deal with the side effects of the treatments of the neoplastic disease. The goal of this article is to present a review of the current state of knowledge in this field by successively exposing the achievements of the last few years, the not yet solved problems and the challenges caused by the new therapeutics against cancer. This article will expose the achievements in the control of cancer related symptoms like cerebral metastases, compressive syndromes, denutrition, dyspnea, bone metastases, thromboembolic events and pain. The recent progress in the management of the side effects of chemotherapy were accomplished in treatment or prevention of mucositis, nausea, febrile neutropenia, anemia and cardiotoxicity of the anthracyclines. The unsolved problems in supportive care are alopecia, thrombocytopenia, cancer-related fatigue and cachexia. Finally, these last years saw the advent of many agents of molecular-targeted therapy in medical oncology which currently form part of the current clinical practice. These treatments have their own side effects, different from those of the cytotoxic, hormonal or immunotherapeutic agents. It is necessary to know these side effects and their management in order to provide the best quality of care to the patients who receive these treatments.
 ...
PMID:[Supportive care in cancer: concepts, achievements and challenges]. 1839 Apr 21

Adjuvant analgesics are drugs that are not primarily used as analgesics but can produce analgesia in certain types of pain. Adjuvant analgesics can be administered together with non-opioid and opioid analgesics on each step of the WHO analgesic ladder. They should be given when an additional or specific indication exists, but should not be used as a substitute for a thorough treatment with opioids and nonopioids. Adjuvant analgesics can be classified into groups according to the type of pain to be treated: continuous neuropathic pain or lancinating neuropathic pain, sympathetically maintained pain, bone pain and those for multipurpose use. Adjuvant drugs used for continuous neuropathic pain include local anaesthetics, clonidine, capsaicin, and antidepressants. Tricyclic antidepressants are the group that have been best investigated, and are therefore the drugs of choice. An analgesic effect is probably produced via enhancement of transmitter concentrations in pain-modulating pathways. This occurs at lower doses than those necessary to treat depression. Anticholinergic actions, acute glaucoma, constipation, orthostatic hypotension and cardiac arrhythmias are adverse effects that are seen predominantly with teritiary amine drugs and less often with secondary amine compounds. Initial doses should be small to avoid these adverse effects. Local anaesthetics are used less often, because of the high incidence of side effects (especially with tocainide, flecainide). An analgesic effect has been described in neuropathic pain, however, probably due to membrane stabilization and reduction of aberrant signal conduction. Mexiletine is considered to be the safest local anaesthetic, and should be used initially in small doses (100-150 mg/d). If side effects do not occur, doses can be increased step-wise up to 900 mg/d. Local anaesthetics are indicated for the treatment of severe neuropathic pain; this treatment is contraindicated in patients with cardiac arrhythmias. Systemic or intrathecal clonidine can be tried in neuropathic pain refractory to opioid therapy. The same stands for the topical application of capsaicin in certain types of pain. Lancinating neuropathic pain is an indication for anticonvulsant drugs. Carbamazepine, clonazepam, valproate and phenytoin seem to reduce aberrant signal conduction in damaged nerves in a manner similar to the supression of epileptiform activities in the brain. Common side effects include sedation, dizziness and nausea. Of greater concern are the more severe side effects, such as bone marrow depression (carbamazepine) and hepatotoxicity (phenytoin, valproate). Low initial doses and stepwise increases in dosage, repeated blood counts, and monitoring of plasma levels are helpful in recognizing and avoiding these adverse effects. Baclofen, a GABA agonist primarily used for spasticity, is effective in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia and is often used in the management of lancinating pain of unspecific origin. The initial dosage is 10-15 mg/d, increasing to 30-90 mg/d, or higher. If neural blockade fails to reduce sympathetically maintained pain sufficiently specific adjuvants can be used. Sympatholytic drugs, e.g. phenoxybenzamine (60-120 mg/d) or prazosin, can be administered to patients without major cardiovascular dysfunction. There is experimental evidence of the involvement of calcium channels in nociception, and a beneficial clinical effect of nifidepine in reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RDS) has been demonstrated. Bone pain is common in tumor patients and can often be treated effectively with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Biphosphonates (etidronate, clodronate, pamidronate derivates) also produce analgesic effects in patients with bone metastases. However, differences among the various compounds have not been clearly evaluated yet. Potent and specific radioisotopes are still under development and the use of calcitonin in bone pain is considered controversial.
 ...
PMID:[Pharmacotherapy of cancer pain. 3. Adjuvant drugs.]. 1841 35

In this case report, we describe continuous subcutaneous infusion of opiates as PCAO (patient controlled analgesia in outpatients) in one patient with metastatic carcinoma of the rectum (liver and bone metastases, partial bowel obstruction) with severe cancer pain and vomiting in the terminal phase. The parenteral administration of opioids extended over 58 days. The infusion was powered by an external portable clockwork-driven syringe pump (Perfusor M, Braun Medical/Germany). The open-accessible pump has a syringe volume of 10 ml, and its maximal infusion time is 24 h. The 27-G infusion needle (Sub-Q-Set, Baxter/USA) was inserted in the side of the abdomen and was left in the same position for 10 to 20 days. It took the patient and his family only 1.5 h to familiarize themselves with the use of the pump. They were trained in its use in our outpatient pain department. For pain control both the variable continuous infusion and the extra injection doses could be administered by the way of the syringe driver. The patient was given a stock of 120 ampoules of morphine for further treatment at home. For optimal pain control he decided to raise the daily dose of opioid infusion from the initial 60 mg to 240 mg morphine within 48 h. In this way, PCAO-besides rapid titration of the opioid dose to achieve analgesia-allows the use of opioids controlled by the patient himself. In the present case this procedure was also important when an outpatient radiation therapy became urgently necessary to prevent a fracture of the spine because of metastasis. The pain control by the patient himself was the main factor to get free of pain during the transport to the hospital. Even positioning for radiation was possible without pain. When he received outpatient radiation therapy the patient needed extra injection doses of up to 360 mg morphine a day. The PCAO procedure by continuous subcutaneous infusion with opiates is a safe and efficient method of pain management for outpatient patients suffering from severe cancer pain and intractable nausea in the terminal phase. Its validity has also been proven especially for radiation treatment of bone metastases.
 ...
PMID:[Patient-controlled analgesia in outpatients with severe cancer pain.]. 1841 39

This study was designed to prospectively evaluate quality of life in patients treated with local external beam radiation therapy for symptomatic bone metastases. Patients with symptomatic bone metastases treated with palliative radiation therapy were followed with Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) at baseline and at 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the delivery of radiation therapy. The ESAS evaluates 10 symptoms: global pain, index pain (pain at the irradiated site), fatigue, nausea, depression, anxiety, drowsiness, appetite, sense of well-being, and shortness of breath on a categorical score of 0 to 10 (0 = absence of symptom, 10 = worst possible symptom). At each follow-up interval, the difference for each domain of the ESAS was compared with the baseline score. A P value < 0.01 was considered significant. Five hundred and eighteen patients were analyzed in this study. For the entire cohort, there were statistically significant improvements with the delivery of palliative radiation therapy in global pain, index pain, anxiety, sense of wellbeing, and shortness of breath in >/= 1 follow-up interval. Fatigue was reported to be slightly worse in the first 2 weeks following the radiation treatment. Global pain, index pain, anxiety, and sense of well-being showed consistent improvement with the radiation treatment regardless of which endpoint definitions were employed. Radiation therapy not only can palliate pain but also can improve quality of life.
 ...
PMID:Quality of life after local external beam radiation therapy for symptomatic bone metastases: a prospective evaluation. 1862 39

The aim of this study is to conduct a comparison study between the efficacy and safety of zoledronic acid and clodronate in malignant hypercalcemia secondary to bone metastases in Egyptian adult patients. This is a prospective observational study conducted 80 patients (40 in each group), who were assigned to receive either zoledronic acid (4 mg over a 30 min infusion) every 3-4 weeks or clodronate (a single dose of 1,500 mg over a 4 h infusion) monthly for 3 months. The primary efficacy analysis was the proportion of patients with at least one skeletal-related event. The safety was assessed based on the frequencies of the reported adverse effects as nausea, vomiting, anemia, etc. The calcium level significantly decreased in both groups. At least one skeletal-related event occurred in 15 (37.5%) patients receiving zoledronic acid and 32 (80%) patients receiving clodronate. Radiotherapy and fractures represented the highest event observed in both groups. At least one adverse event was experienced by 20 (50%) patients treated with zoledronic acid, while 26 (65%) patients on clodronate recorded one or more adverse event. Pyrexia was the most commonly reported side effect and flare phenomena. Both treatment groups were comparable regarding the reported adverse events. Both medications did not show any significant nephrotoxicity detected by elevation in the creatinine level. Zoledronic acid and clodronate have demonstrated clinical utility in the treatment of hypercalcaemia in cancer patients. Zoledronic acid provides a more effective and convenient treatment than clodronate, while both maintaining a similar safety profile.
 ...
PMID:Zoledronic acid and clodronate in the treatment of malignant bone metastases with hypercalcaemia; efficacy and safety comparative study. 2020 42

Bone metastases (BM) represent the most frequent indication for palliative radiotherapy in patients with breast cancer. BM increase the risk of skeletal-related events defined as pathological fractures, spinal cord compression, and, most frequently, bone pain. The therapeutic goals of palliative radiotherapy for BM are pain relief, recalcification, and stabilization, reducing spinal cord compression and minimizing the risk of paraplegia. In advanced tumor stages radiotherapy may also be used to alleviate symptoms of generalized bone metastasis. This requires an individual approach including factors, such as life expectancy and tumor progression at different sites. Side effects of radiation therapy of the middle and lower spine may include nausea and emesis requiring adequate antiemetic prophylaxis. Irradiation of large bone marrow areas may cause myelotoxicity making monitoring of blood cell counts mandatory. Radiotherapy is an effective tool in palliation treatment of BM and is part of an interdisciplinary approach. Preferred technique, targeting, and different dose schedules are described in the guidelines of the German Society for Radiooncology (DEGRO) which are also integrated in 2012 recommendations of the Working Group Gynecologic Oncology (AGO).
 ...
PMID:Radiotherapy of Bone Metastasis in Breast Cancer Patients - Current Approaches. 2274 Jul 96


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next >>