Biliary tract cancer is a tough opponent. Chemotherapy has improved outcomes, but managing blocked bile ducts is a challenge. Two methods stand out for placing stents in these blocked ducts: side-by-side (SBS) and stent-in-stent (SIS). Let's talk about stents. They are tiny tubes that keep ducts open. In the case of biliary tract cancer, these ducts can get bloc...
Cancer treatments often come with a host of unwanted side effects. One such issue is called chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, or CIPN for short. This condition involves damage to the nerves in the hands and feet, causing symptoms like numbness, tingling, and pain. To understand this better, let's look at the body's internal clock. This clock, also known as...
The adult patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) requires that type with specific medical attention. For these patients , intensive chemotherapy is a big check in the treatment process. Many hospitals are not properly equipped to handle these hour long procedures. Thus, a patient's survival rate might be higher in hospitals that are experienced in delivering this...
Imagine learning how to administer chemotherapy without any real-world risks. That's what a group of nursing students did, thanks to a smartphone virtual reality (VR) training program. This study looked into how well nursing students accepted this new way of learning. The VR training was designed to help students practice the steps of chemotherapy administration in ...
Biliary tract cancers, or BTC, are notoriously stealthy. They often remain undiscovered until they've already caused significant damage, making treatment challenging. Doctors typically start with chemotherapy, but it doesn't always work as planned. Even when combined with treatments that boost the immune system, the results are not impressive. Why is this? BTC can ou...
When facing advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC), patients often need second-line chemotherapy after the first treatment fails. This review digs into the available evidence to help doctors and patients make informed choices. By comparing different chemo options using a method called network meta-analysis (NMA), researchers aim to give clear guidance on what works best...
Did you know that chemotherapy can sometimes cause nerve damage in your hands and feet? This is called peripheral neuropathy, and it can really affect how patients feel and live their lives. A big study called the MiroCIP study looked into this. They checked out two types of chemo drugs: oxaliplatin and taxanes. The study found that within a year, a good number of pa...
Ever wondered if squeezing and moving could help beat the nerve pain from breast cancer chemo? Researchers did, and they found out something interesting. They gathered people who had numbness in their hands and feet from chemo, and split them into two groups. One group tried combining squeezing (compression) and exercise (EXCAP). The other group just did compression....
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is linked to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are making waves in treating this cancer. When combined with chemotherapy, they're showing promise. This study dug into the immune cell profiles and how they affect survival in metastatic NPC patients treated with ICIs. Researchers looked at 81 tissue samples...
Imagine a tiny, smart nanoparticle that can carry both light-activated and regular cancer drugs. This is exactly what scientists have been exploring. They combined a liposome, a type of tiny fat particle, with a red blood cell membrane to create a unique nanocarrier. This nanoparticle can hold two powerful drugs: indocyanine green (ICG) and doxorubicin (DOX). ICG is ...