Impact of weight loss on treatment interruption and unplanned hospital admission in head and neck cancer patients undergoing curative (chemo)-radiotherapy in Hong Kong.

Purpose: Malnutrition is highly prevalent in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients, with weight loss being one of the major nutritional indicators. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of weight loss on treatment interruptions and unplanned hospital admissions in HNC patients undergoing radiotherapy (RT) with or without chemotherapy.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, consecutive HNC patients who started RT between January 2011 and December 2019 were included.

External Validation of a Nomogram to Predict Survival and Benefit of Concurrent Chemoradiation for Stage II Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

A nomogram was recently published by Sun et al. to predict overall survival (OS) and the additional benefit of concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT) vs. radiotherapy (RT) alone, in stage II NPC treated with conventional RT.

Patterns and infection outcomes of bacterial colonization in patients with indwelling abdominal drains for malignant ascites.

Background: Indwelling abdominal drains for intermittent drainage is an effective treatment for refractory malignant ascites, bacterial colonization and subsequent drain-related infection is however a common concern. This study aimed to investigate the patterns of bacterial colonization and the subsequent infection outcomes in patients with indwelling abdominal drains.

Methods: All consecutive advanced cancer patients with newly inserted indwelling abdominal drains and who were under the service of the ascites clinic of our institution for intermittent drainage between January 2011 and March 2018 were screened for study eligibility.

The use of ketamine in the management of refractory cancer pain in a palliative care unit.

Background: Ketamine has been used as an adjuvant to opioid therapy for the management of refractory cancer pain but the current evidence is insufficient to draw any conclusions regarding its efficacy. We aimed to assess the response to ketamine in patients with refractory cancer pain treated in an oncology palliative care unit.

Methods: Patients with refractory cancer pain despite opioid dose escalation were selected for a trial of parenteral ketamine infusion according to a local protocol.