cancer AND pain

Euonymus hamiltonianus Wall. is considered a medicinal plant and is used to treat pain, cough, dysuria, and cancer, but a clear phytochemical investigation of its biological activities has yet to be performed. Investigation of chemical constituents of the leaves of Euonymus hamiltonianus Wall. led to the isolation of three new compounds by chromatography techniques, euonymusins A-C ( 1 , 10 , and 11 ), and the acquisition of new spectroscopic data for euonymusin D ( 2 ), along with the identification of ten known compounds...

Metastasis to the penis from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) or any other primary cancer site is unusual; when it does occur, it often involves multiple organs. A 75-year-old man presented with penile pain and swelling. Three months earlier, he had open radical nephrectomy with thrombectomy and was diagnosed with clear-cell RCC with tumor thrombosis in the inferior vena cava. The follow-up imaging indicated metastasis to the penis, prompting a total penectomy due to worsening pain. The excised mass displayed features consistent with metastatic RCC...

Background: To conduct a comprehensive systematic review and network meta-analysis of RCTs that compare outcomes of robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) with intra- or extracorporeal urinary diversion (ICUD or ECUD) and the standard open approach (oRC). Methods: A systematic review identified RCTs including patients aged >18 years with non-metastatic bladder cancer treated with RARC (ICUD or ECUD) vs. oRC and reporting peri- and post-operative outcomes and quality of life (QoL) assessment. Standard and network metanalyses were performed...

Background: Malignant-associated abdominal wall endometriosis (AWE) is a rare pathology, likely to occur in 1% of scar endometriosis. The objectives of this study were to update the evidence on tumor degeneration arising from AWE to notify about the clinical characteristics, the different treatments offered to patients and their outcomes. Methods: A comprehensive systematic review of the literature was conducted. PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were used. Prospero (ID number: CRD42024505274). Results: Out of the 152 studies identified, 63 were included, which involved 73 patients...

PURPOSE: This study sought to investigate changes in quality of life (QoL) and symptom burden among palliative care patients undergoing one week of inpatient care in a specialized palliative care unit (PCU). The patient population was stratified into two groups, with one group pretreated from pre-admission palliative care (PC) provided by an outpatient multidisciplinary PC team, while the other group did not receive such support prior to admission. Although the average duration of treatment at a PCU in Germany is 1-2 weeks, the question also arises as to whether a significant improvement in symptom burden and QoL can be expected after just one week of PC in a PCU...

Painful pelvic and spinal bone metastases are a considerable challenge for doctors and patients. Conventional therapies include morphine-equivalent medication (MeM) and local radiotherapy (RT), but these interventions are not always successful. More recently, hyperthermia (HT) has been applied to complement RT and MeM, and this complex approach has shown promising synergistic results. The objective of our study was to present the results of RT combined with a special kind of HT (modulated electrohyperthermia, mEHT), in which some of the thermal effect is contributed by equivalent nonthermal components, drastically reducing the necessary power and energy...

Cancer survival is becoming more common which means that there is now a growing population of cancer survivors, in whom pain may be common. However, its prevalence has hardly been addressed systematically. We aimed to assess the prevalence and explore the pathophysiology and impact of pain on health outcomes in cancer survivors. We conducted a retrospective-prospective cohort study in cancer-free patients diagnosed with cancer at least five years before the study start date. We used multivariable regression to establish the association of patients' cancer characteristics with pain, and then the association of patients' pain features with health outcomes and related symptoms...

Children undergoing antineoplastic treatment often present severe side effects due to the dosage and duration of treatments, with oral mucositis emerging as one of the most prevalent and painful inflammatory conditions. There is a growing body of evidence on therapeutic interventions such as cryotherapy, low-level laser therapy, and natural compounds for this condition. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and compare therapies for the management of cancer treatment-induced oral mucositis in pediatric patients...

Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS) is utilized for treating various malignancies, such as early-stage oropharyngeal cancer and lymph node metastasis of an unknown primary tumor (CUP), and also benign conditions, like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and chronic lingual tonsillitis. However, the success and failure of TORS have not been analyzed to date. In this retrospective observational multicenter cohort study, we evaluated patients treated with TORS using the da Vinci surgical system. Success criteria were defined as identification of the primary tumor for CUP, >2 mm resection margin for malignant conditions, and improvement on respiratory polygraphy and tonsillitis complaints for benign conditions...

Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDSs) constitute a heterogeneous group of connective tissue disorders characterized by joint hypermobility, skin hyperextensibility, and tissue fragility. Asymptomatic EDSs, joint hypermobility without associated syndromes, EDSs, and hypermobility spectrum disorders are the commonest phenotypes associated with joint hypermobility. Joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS) is a connective tissue disorder characterized by extreme flexibility of the joints, along with pain and other symptoms...

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) presents significant treatment challenges due to its poor survival and intense pain at the primary cancer site. Cancer pain is debilitating, contributes to diminished quality of life, and causes opioid tolerance. The stimulator of interferon genes (STING) agonism has been investigated as an anti-cancer strategy. We have developed STINGel, an extended-release formulation that prolongs the availability of STING agonists, which has demonstrated an enhanced anti-tumor effect in OSCC compared to STING agonist injection...

Many anti-cancer drugs, such as taxanes, platinum compounds, vinca alkaloids, and proteasome inhibitors, can cause chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). CIPN is a frequent and harmful side effect that affects the sensory, motor, and autonomic nerves, leading to pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, and reduced quality of life. The causes of CIPN are not fully known, but they involve direct nerve damage, oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA damage, microtubule dysfunction, and altered ion channel activity...

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the RATIONALE-309 (NCT03924986) intent-to-treat (ITT) population and in a subgroup of patients with liver metastases. METHODS: Patients were randomized 1:1 to tislelizumab + chemotherapy or placebo + chemotherapy. As the secondary endpoint, HRQoL was evaluated using seven selected scores from the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ Head and Neck Cancer module (QLQ-H&N35)...

INTRODUCTION: There are no previously reported cases of locked-in syndrome occurring following cervical spinal surgery. We describe a case of locked-in syndrome following an elective cervical foraminotomy and discuss potential etiologies and contributing factors to our patient's presentation. CASE PRESENTATION: A 54-year-old male with a history of head and neck cancer and prior anterior cervical discectomy and fusion presented with neck pain following a motor vehicle accident...

Since their introduction, immune checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized cancer treatment by harnessing the body's own immune system as a defense against tumor growth. The downside of activating the immune system is the development of immune-related adverse events (irAEs), which mimic autoimmune disease of various organ systems. The musculoskeletal system is an uncommon, but substantial one for patients and can lead to long-term pain and disability that affects their quality of life. This review summarizes recent literature on imaging forms utilized for diagnosis and assessing treatment response in rheumatic irAEs...

Patients with cancer considering immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy often look for health information and peer support through online communities. The authors used social media content analysis to obtain the perspectives of patients receiving ICI treatment about immune-related adverse events (irAEs), with particular focus on rheumatological symptoms. The most reported rheumatic symptom was joint pain. Other commonly reported symptoms included muscle pain, joint stiffness, arthritis, myositis, bone pain, back pain, and tendon/ligament pain...

The differential diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis as an immune-related adverse event can be challenging as patients with cancer can present with musculoskeletal symptoms that can mimic arthritis because of localized or generalized joint pain. In addition, immune checkpoint inhibitors can exacerbate joint conditions such as crystal-induced arthritis or osteoarthritis, or induce systemic disease that can affect the joints such as sarcoidosis. This distinction is important as the treatment of these conditions can be different from that of immune-related inflammatory arthritis...

Oncologic chronic pain is often difficult to control, especially in anatomical areas with multiple and complex innervation, such as the pelvic/perineal region. The ganglion impar block (GIB) is a procedure with growing interest and varied applicability. It has been used in several benign and malignant causes of pelvic and perineal pain refractory to pharmacological treatment. We conducted a review of all articles published in PUBMED® until the 30th of October 2022 regarding GIB in oncologic pain. 19 articles were identified with a total of 278 patients...

BACKGROUND: Opioids are a first-line treatment for severe cancer pain. However, clinicians may be reluctant to prescribe opioids for patients with concurrent substance use disorders (SUD) or clinical concerns about non-prescribed substance use. MEASURES: Patient volume, 60-day retention rate, and use of sublingual buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder. INTERVENTION: We created the Palliative Harm Reduction and Resiliency Clinic, a palliative care clinic founded on harm reduction principles and including formal collaboration with addiction psychiatry...

BACKGROUND: The ESHO protocol 1-85 is a multicenter randomized trial initiated by the European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology with the aim to investigate the value of hyperthermia (HT) as an adjuvant to radiotherapy (RT) in treatment of locally advanced breast carcinoma. The trial is one of the largest studies of hyperthermia in radiotherapy but has not been previously published. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between February 1987 and November 1993, 155 tumors in 151 patients were included...