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Query: UMLS:C0027627 (metastases)
 103,950 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The portrait of a dying child is an homage to a child's journey from initial diagnosis to the terminal stages of illness in metastatic neuroblastoma, raising the critical question of the importance of defining a beautiful death - a concept I first came across as a literature student in Henrik Ibsen's renowned tragedy Hedda Gabler. In this article, we discuss a case study of a child named Peter (real names have been changed to maintain the confidentiality of the patient) and his family, whom I met during my oncology rotation as a junior pediatric resident, and various aspects of care - ranging from symptom management, pain control, the family as an emotional and spiritual unit and complications of metastatic disease. Interlaced amidst references of current practices related to pain control and palliation of symptoms are quotes from Dr Myra BluebondLangner's books and a personal encounter with the child to construct the child as a child and not another dying patient. The enigma of the definition of a beautiful death is also discussed from the patient and the family's point of view. An ideal medical death would be one without pain and with optimal symptom control; however, a beautiful death is so much more - encompassing a peaceful passing surrounded not by machines but by happiness around and at heart. We hope this article would encourage pediatricians to continue to practice pediatric palliative care in the daily setting when dealing with critically ill patients or children in their final stages of life.
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PMID:The Portrait of a Dying Child. 3082 Jan 20

Metastasis-the disseminated growth of tumours in distant organs-underlies cancer mortality. Breast-to-brain metastasis (B2BM) is a common and disruptive form of cancer and is prevalent in the aggressive basal-like subtype, but is also found at varying frequencies in all cancer subtypes. Previous studies revealed parameters of breast cancer metastasis to the brain, but its preference for this site remains an enigma. Here we show that B2BM cells co-opt a neuronal signalling pathway that was recently implicated in invasive tumour growth, involving activation by glutamate ligands of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs), which is key in model systems for metastatic colonization of the brain and is associated with poor prognosis. Whereas NMDAR activation is autocrine in some primary tumour types, human and mouse B2BM cells express receptors but secrete insufficient glutamate to induce signalling, which is instead achieved by the formation of pseudo-tripartite synapses between cancer cells and glutamatergic neurons, presenting a rationale for brain metastasis.
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PMID:Synaptic proximity enables NMDAR signalling to promote brain metastasis. 3159 57


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