Patient-reported symptom burden and supportive care needs of patients with stage II-III colorectal cancer during and after adjuvant systemic treatment

 A retrospective population-based cohort study conducted on newly diagnosed stage II-III colorectal cancer patients in Calgary, Alberta, Canada was recently published in JCO Oncology Practice.  The study, conducted on 303 patients over a period of 3 years (January 2016 - January 2019), indicated that while symptom severity was low and most systems either remained stable and/or or improved following adjuvant systemic treatment, "ongoing assessments and interventions to address physical and psychologic symptoms and supportive care needs in patients [with colorectal cancer] during and after treatment are needed." 

Study mentioned: Cuthbert CA, O'Sullivan DE, Boyne DJ, Brenner DR, Cheung WY. Patient-Reported Symptom Burden and Supportive Care Needs of Patients With Stage II-III Colorectal Cancer During and After Adjuvant Systemic Treatment: A Real-World Evidence Study. JCO Oncol Pract. 2023 Jan 6:OP2200462. doi: 10.1200/OP.22.00462. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36608313.

Clinician participation in CADTH’s pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review: contribution and impact on cancer drug funding recommendations

In any given week, media headlines publicize the benefits of a new “breakthrough” cancer drug, with patients and clinicians subsequently advocating for its use. Governments, which face the difficult task of deciding how best to allocate limited public resources, must at the same time balance ongoing commitments to provide optimal health care for Canadians and to ensure value for money and the sustainability of the Canadian health care system.

Established by the provincial and territorial ministries of health, the pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pcodr) program operating within the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (cadth) is designed to bring consistency and clarity to the assessment of cancer drugs by looking at clinical and economic evidence, by taking into consideration clinician and patient perspectives, and by using that information to make recommendations to the participating jurisdictions to guide their drug funding decisions.

Read more here.

Hairy cell leukaemia: ESMO clinical practice guidelines

Hairy cell leukaemia accounts for 2% of adult leukaemia, and occurs more often in men than in women. The new ESMO Clinical Practice Guideline provides up-to-date information on the management of hairy cell leukaemia, including recommendations for diagnosis and staging, as well as detailed treatment sections referring to the latest studies and reviews. Read more here.

The Household Products Database (HPD) from the National Library of Medicine (NLM)

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Household Products Database (HPD) now contains over 14,000 products.

The Household Products Database links over 14,000 consumer brands to health effects from Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) provided by manufacturers and allows scientists and consumers to research products based on chemical ingredients. Each MSDS also contains information about carcinogenicity of the product. The database is designed to help answer the following typical questions:

* What are the chemical ingredients and their percentage in specific brands?
* Which products contain specific chemical ingredients?
* Who manufactures a specific brand? How do I contact this manufacturer?
* What are the acute and chronic effects of chemical ingredients in a specific brand?
* What other information is available about chemicals in the toxicology-related databases of the National Library of Medicine?

CAREX Canada

CAREX (CARcinogen EXposure) is a multi-institution research project that combines academic expertise and government resources to generate an evidence-based carcinogen surveillance program for Canada. This surveillance project estimates the number of Canadians exposed to substances associated with cancer in workplace and community environments. These estimates provide significant support for targeting exposure reduction strategies and cancer prevention programs. Read the July e-Bulletin here.

Visit the website here.

Ontario’s High Risk Breast Screening Program is showing positive results

The Journal of Clinical Oncology has published a study on the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) High Risk Screening Program. The study evaluated the first year of the program, which launched in 2011 as an expansion of the OBSP. The results of the study show that the program is working as planned and is helping detect breast cancer in women who are considered to be at high risk for developing the disease. Read more here.

The G-I-N 2014 Conference

The Guidelines International Network, G-I-N, is a global network, founded in 2002. It has grown to comprise 98 organisations and 107 individual members representing 40 countries from all continents (July 2013). The network supports evidence-based health care and improved health outcomes by reducing inappropriate variation throughout the world.

This year's conference will be held in Melbourne, Australia, on 20-23 August 2014. The Conference theme “Creation and Innovation: Guidelines in the Digital Age” will be addressed through plenary presentations, workshops, oral and poster presentations and much more.

Some interesting pre-conference workshops include the following topics:

- GRADE and Guideline Development
- Translating research findings and evidence-based guidelines into clinical practice
- Contextualising international guidelines: A practical approach in guideline construction
- Information technology in the development, dissemination and implementation of guidelines
- Adding to evidence – the role of clinical and lay members and health economics in developing clinical guidelines

More about the Conference is here.

Oncology Nursing E-journals to support your practice

Happy Oncology Nursing Day!

Have you had a chance recently checking in your library website and see what e-journals are available from your finger tips to support your patient care? Any questions? Contact us!

The obesity-cancer connection, and what we can do about it

"The problem with being overweight or obese, as measured by weight and height, is that it raises our risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. But did you know that being obese can actually increase our risk of getting cancer and may even worsen our chances of surviving after a cancer diagnosis?" Continue reading the American Cancer Society Expert Voices blog here.

The obesity-cancer connection, and what we can do about it

"The problem with being overweight or obese, as measured by weight and height, is that it raises our risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. But did you know that being obese can actually increase our risk of getting cancer and may even worsen our chances of surviving after a cancer diagnosis? In fact, the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study II showed significant increases in cancer occurrence in people who are the most overweight." Continue reading the American Cancer Society Expert Voices blog here.

Unlocking the mysteries of metastasis

"Remarkably, real progress in understanding the processes of metastasis has only happened in the last couple of decades, even though the concept was known in the 1800s. For a long time metastasis was thought to be too complicated, too complex, to be understood. It was thought there were no rules to how it happened. It was not until the late 1970s and early 1980s that researchers showed that there were rules, that certain tumors metastasized to particular organs, and that you could manipulate them to understand why. Today we know that metastasis involves several steps, though we don't know everything about each step." Continue reading the American Cancer Society's Expert Voices blog here.

Grey Matters: a practical search tool for evidence-based medicine

The Information Services team of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) has developed a grey literature checklist. Grey literature includes reports and government information that are not published commercially and that are inaccessible via bibliographic databases. Access CADTH’s newly revised and updated online resource for grey literature searching, Grey matters: a practical search tool for evidence-based medicine, here.

Does being overweight cause breast cancer?

"Reports from both the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the World Cancer Research Fund conclude that there is convincing evidence that being obese or overweight causes breast cancer after menopause. And a 2006 study from the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study-II found that gaining weight as an adult was an even more important risk factor than current weight for post-menopausal breast cancer. The study found that women who gained 60 or more pounds after age 18 had double the risk of being diagnosed with post-menopausal breast cancer compared to women who maintained their weight over the same time period. Other studies have reported similar findings." Continue reading the American Cancer Society Expert Voices blog here.

Can removing fallopian tubes prevent cancer?

"I've seen a few articles recently about removing the fallopian tubes to prevent ovarian cancer, a procedure called "prophylactic bilateral salpingectomy". And not just in women who are at high risk for ovarian cancer, which is already recommended by gynecological medical societies in the United States, but for all women who are not planning to have any more children and who are about to undergo abdominal surgery for any reason." Continue reading the American Cancer Society Expert Voices blog here.