Invasive treatment of pain associated with pancreatic cancer on different levels of WHO analgesic ladder.

Background: Pancreatic cancer is a malignant neoplasm with a high mortality rate, often associated with a delayed diagnosis, the early occurrence of metastasis and an overall, poor response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Pain management in pancreatic cancer consists mainly of pharmacological treatment according to the WHO analgesic ladder. Surgical treatment for pain relief, such as splanchnicectomy, is considered amongst the final step of pain management.

'One-component' ultrathin multilayer films based on poly(vinyl alcohol) as stabilizing coating for phenytoin-loaded liposomes.

Ultrathin "one-component" multilayer polymeric films for potential biomedical applications were designed based on polyvinyl alcohol,-a non-toxic, fully degradable synthetic polymer. Good uniformity of the obtained film and adequate adsorption properties of the polymeric layers were achieved by functional modification of the polymer, which involved synthesis of cationic and anionic derivatives. Synthesized polymers were characterized by FTIR, NMR spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering measurements and elemental analysis.

Heparin--a key drug in the treatment of the circulatory degenerative diseases: controlling its action with polymers.

The properties of heparin, a key anticoagulant, are reviewed. The important issues in heparinotherapy, i.e.