Publications by authors named "A Balm"
Objective: To assess the effectiveness of audiovisuals in providing pre-treatment information to patients with cancer. Following the Six Function Model of Medical Communication, we distinguish between immediate, intermediate, and long-term outcomes.
Methods: A systematic search was performed in five electronic databases for quantitative studies comparing the addition of audiovisuals with standard care or alternative interventions.
Treatment-related hearing loss in weekly versus triweekly cisplatin chemoradiation for head and neck cancer.
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol
December 2024
Purpose: Cisplatin-induced hearing loss is a common side effect in patients treated with cisplatin-based chemoradiation (CRT) for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The extent of hearing loss after concurrent CRT was compared between triweekly (3 × 100 mg/m) and weekly (7 × 40 mg/m) cisplatin CRT.
Method: This retrospective cohort study was conducted in the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital and included 129 patients with cisplatin-based CRT for head and neck cancer (72 treated in the triweekly and 57 in the weekly regimen).
Article Synopsis
- Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) shows potential in improving surgical outcomes by detecting subclinical melanoma (LM/LMM) before surgery.
- A study involving 117 cases demonstrated that handheld RCM (HH-RCM) identified subclinical LM in 60% of instances, and 27% of cases had changed management plans, often resulting in less extensive surgeries.
- The use of HH-RCM significantly improved histological margin status to 96.5% compared to 81% in historical cases, and it contributed to a much lower local recurrence rate of 1.6%, suggesting its value in tailoring treatment for patients.
The limited value of sentinel lymph node biopsy in lentigo maligna melanoma: A nomogram based on the results of 29 years of the nationwide dutch pathology registry (PALGA).
Eur J Surg Oncol
November 2023
Background: Lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM) predominantly presents in the head and neck of the elderly. The value of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for LMM patients remains to be determined, as the reported average yield of positive lymph nodes is less than 10%. In this nationwide cohort study, we wanted to identify LMM patients with an increased risk of SLNB-positivity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Several reports have indicated that locally advanced head and neck cancer (LAHNC) has increased in the past decade. However, incidence trends cannot be easily compared because slightly different definitions of LAHNC were used.
Aim: To investigate if the incidence of locally advanced disease (LAD) in the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx is indeed increasing over time, considering the growing and ageing population in the Netherlands.