Polymorphisms in Cytokine Receptor and Regulator Genes are Associated with Levels of Exercise in Women Prior to Breast Cancer Surgery.

Little is known about the genetic characteristics associated with exercise in women undergoing breast cancer surgery. In a sample of women who were evaluated prior to breast cancer surgery ( = 310), we evaluated for differences in demographic and clinical characteristics between patients who did and did not exercise on a regular basis and evaluated for associations between polymorphisms in genes for pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, their receptors, and their transcriptional regulators. Patients completed an investigator-developed exercise questionnaire.

Associations Between Demographic, Clinical, and Symptom Characteristics and Stress in Oncology Patients Receiving Chemotherapy.

Background: Patients undergoing cancer treatment experience global stress and cancer-specific stress. Both types of stress are associated with a higher symptom burden.

Objective: In this cross-sectional study, we used a comprehensive set of demographic, clinical, and symptom characteristics to evaluate their relative contribution to the severity of global and cancer-specific stress.

Subgroups of patients undergoing chemotherapy with distinct cognitive fatigue and evening physical fatigue profiles.

Purpose: The purpose was to model cognitive fatigue and evening physical fatigue together to determine subgroups of patients with distinct cognitive fatigue AND evening physical fatigue profiles. Once these profiles were identified, differences among the subgroups in demographic and clinical characteristics, co-occurring symptoms, and quality of life outcomes were evaluated.

Methods: Oncology patients (n = 1332) completed self-report measures of cognitive fatigue and evening physical fatigue, six times over two cycles of chemotherapy.

Association Between Physical Activity Levels and Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Severity in Cancer Survivors.

Objectives: To evaluate for differences in demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as subjective and objective measures of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), among different exercise groups.

Sample & Setting: Cancer survivors (N = 290) were recruited from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Methods & Variables: Based on the recommended 150 minutes or more of exercise per week, survivors were classified into the no exercise (NoEx), less exercise (LessEx), or recommended exercise (RecEx) group.

Distinct diarrhea profiles during outpatient chemotherapy.

Purpose: Chemotherapy-induced diarrhea (CID) is a common symptom that occurs in 50 to 80% of patients. Given that the majority of the data on the occurrence and severity of CID is based on physician-rated toxicity criteria, this study's purposes were to identify subgroups of patients with distinct CID profiles and determine how these subgroups differ in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics; severity, frequency, and distress of CID; the co-occurrence of common GI symptoms; and QOL.

Methods: Patients (n = 1133) completed the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale six times over two cycles of chemotherapy.

Level of Exercise Influences the Severity of Fatigue, Energy Levels, and Sleep Disturbance in Oncology Outpatients Receiving Chemotherapy.

Background: Fatigue and sleep disturbance are common co-occurring symptoms in patients receiving chemotherapy. While the results from meta-analyses support the use of exercise to decrease the severity of these symptoms, information is needed on patients' "real world experiences" with the use of exercise.

Objective: The aims of this study were to determine distribution of patients who did and did not exercise on a regular basis and evaluate for differences in demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as the severity of fatigue, decrements in energy, and sleep disturbance among the exercise groups.

A COVID-19 screening tool for oncology telephone triage.

Purpose: Symptoms associated with COVID-19 infection have made the assessment and triage of cancer patients extremely complicated. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and implementation of a COVID-19 screening tool for oncology telephone triage.

Methods: An Ambulatory Oncology Clinical Nurse Educator and three faculty members worked on the development of an oncology specific triage tool based on the challenges that oncology nurses were having with the generic COVID triage tool.

Identification of subgroups of chemotherapy patients with distinct sleep disturbance profiles and associated co-occurring symptoms.

Study Objectives: Purposes of this study were to identify subgroups of patients with distinct sleep disturbance profiles and to evaluate for differences in demographic, clinical, and various sleep characteristics, as well for differences in the severity of co-occurring symptoms among these subgroups.

Methods: Outpatients with breast, gynecological, gastrointestinal, or lung cancer (n = 1331) completed questionnaires six times over two chemotherapy cycles. Self-reported sleep disturbance was evaluated using the General Sleep Disturbance Scale (GSDS).

Managing oral chemotherapy: the healthcare practitioner's role.

Purpose: [corrected] Management of the side effect profiles of the new oral cancer chemotherapeutic agents differs from those of traditional oral chemotherapy and hormonal therapy. The healthcare practitioner's role in counseling and managing these toxicities as well as methods for assessing and promoting adherence is reviewed.

Summary: Many side effects from traditional oral cancer chemotherapeutic agents are the result of their effects on healthy cells as well as cancer cells.

The continuum of care: a paradigm for the management of metastatic colorectal cancer.

New agents for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer have extended median overall survival to more than 20 months, an increase that has changed the view of advanced colorectal cancer from an acute to a chronic condition. This article proposes a shift in treatment strategy from the concept of successive "lines" of therapy, in which chemotherapy is continued until disease progression, to that of a continuum of care, in which the use of chemotherapy is tailored to the clinical setting and includes switching chemotherapy prior to disease progression, maintenance therapy, drug "holidays," and surgical resection of metastases in selected patients. In this approach, the distinction between lines of therapy is no longer absolute.

Normal clotting.

Objective: To review the normal coagulation process and the mechanisms that lead to abnormal clotting.

Data Sources: Primary and tertiary literature and the authors' clinical experience.

Conclusion: The process of coagulation is complex and can be easily misunderstood.

Overview of chemotherapy-induced diarrhea.

Objectives: To provide a general overview of chemotherapy-induced diarrhea (CID) that will highlight the pathophysiology, incidence, and impact of this problem, as well as describe the oncology nurse's role in the management of CID.

Data Sources: Primary and tertiary literature, the authors' clinical experience.

Conclusion: CID is a frequent complication of many types of chemotherapy that can significantly affect patient quality of life, increase treatment costs, and limit the ability to deliver full doses of chemotherapy.

Diagnosis, treatment, and nursing care of acute leukemia.

Objective: To review the clinical presentation, current methods of diagnosis and classification, treatment modalities, and novel treatment approaches of acute myelogenous and lymphoblastic leukemia.

Data Sources: Professional journals, web sites, and books.

Conclusion: The incidence of acute leukemia is increasing.