Experience of individuals with lung and gastrointestinal cancers undergoing radiation therapy: a qualitative study.

Purpose: Lung cancer remains one of the most diagnosed cancers in Canada and continues to be the leading cause of cancer deaths in Canada, responsible for 25% of all cancer deaths. Prior studies consistently report poor experiences of people with lung cancers. The study purpose was to explore the reasons for consistently poorer reported experience of people with lung cancer compared to people with gastrointestinal cancers, who previously have reported positive cancer care experiences within the same context, and to better understand key differences that influence patient experience.

A Virtual Response Surface Strategy to Predict the Effects of Contouring on the Static and Fatigue Mechanical Behavior of Spinal Rods.

Spinal fixation techniques based on contoured spinal rods are well established to restore an adequate sagittal alignment; however, they often break due to fatigue loading because residual stresses arise while deforming the material and they significantly reduce rod fatigue strength. The present paper aims at developing a novel strategy based on Response Surfaces (RS) as surrogate reduced order models to accurately predict the key biomechanical parameters involved both during static spinal rod contouring and subsequent fatigue loading. Finite element (FE) models of different contouring methods are performed on a wide range of spinal rods to reproduce typical clinical scenarios.

A randomized controlled trial of an online support group addressing psychosexual distress among women treated for gynecologic cancer.

Objective: To assess whether a 12-week, professionally facilitated, asynchronous online support group would reduce sexual distress (primary outcome) and improve sexual function, body image, depression symptoms, relationship satisfaction, and social support (secondary outcomes) in women treated for gynecologic cancer.

Methods: Participants were 398 women recruited from three Canadian provinces and one American cancer center in cohorts of 40. Participants were randomized (50:50 odds) to either the immediate treatment condition (ITC) or the waitlist control condition (WCC).

A comprehensive systematic review of marketed bone grafts for load-bearing critical-sized bone defects.

Treatment of critical-sized bone defects typically involves implantation of a bone graft. Various types of bone grafts are nowadays marketed, categorized by their origin as allografts, xenografts, or synthetic grafts. Despite their widespread use, a comprehensive understanding of their morphology and mechanical response remains elusive.