Publications by authors named "Maria A Conte"
Aims And Background: In palliative care, few data are available on the diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders and of difficulties of mental adaptation to cancer for patients in the advanced phases of the disease. SSRI antidepressants are the treatment of choice; the 5-HTTLPR genetic polymorphism of the serotonin transporter (SERT) has been shown in psychiatry to significantly determine the therapeutic response and the incidence of adverse effects. The aim of the present investigation has been therefore to examine the effects of the SSRI antidepressant escitalopram, also considering 5-HTTLPR, on depression, anxiety and mental adaptation to cancer in palliative care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: 5-HTTLPR genetic polymorphism of serotonin transporter (SERT) and stressful life events facilitate depression. The aim of this investigation was therefore to determine the correlations between SERT polymorphism and mental adjustment to cancer.
Patients And Methods: Breast cancer patients early after surgery, and subjects with various advanced tumours were recruited, evaluated using the Mini Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and genotyped.
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the SSRI antidepressant drug citalopram on anxiety, depression and mental adjustment to cancer in terminally ill cancer patients, considering also the 5-HTTLPR genetic polymorphism. A group of twenty-one consecutive patients admitted to the hospice of the Casa di Cura Pineta del Carso (Trieste, Italy) with different types of advanced cancer, who were clinically judged to require treatment with an antidepressive drug, was treated with citalopram for two weeks. The response was determined and related to 5-HTTLPR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To investigate the possible role and tolerability of high-dose (>160 mg/day) oxycodone controlled release (CR) for the treatment of cancer and non-cancer pain.
Design: 227 patients with cancer or non-cancer pain were enrolled in an open-label, multi-center, Italian study in order to assess the adequacy of their existing pain management (using a numerical rating scale [NRS]) and the possible benefit high-dose oxycodone CR may offer patients experiencing uncontrolled pain.
Results: Pain was poorly controlled at baseline, with only 18.
Depression is difficult to detect in cancer patients, though its determination offers an opportunity to relieve patients' suffering in palliative care. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the treatment of choice for mood disorders, but they show a highly variable response. The short allelic variants "s/s" and "s/l" of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene has been consistently associated with a poorer response to SSRIs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Brain metastases (BM) are the most common form of intracranial cancer. The incidence of BM seems to have increased over the past decade. Recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) of data from three Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) trials (1200 patients) has allowed three prognostic groups to be identified.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study focused on childhood Hodgkin's disease treatment outcomes, analyzing 166 patients under 18 who received chemotherapy followed by low-dose radiotherapy from 1985-2003.
- Results showed a 10-year overall survival (OS) rate of 89% and event-free survival (EFS) rate of 87%, with increased survival rates for patients receiving radiotherapy and depending on clinical stage.
- The conclusion emphasized the effectiveness of low-dose radiotherapy as a consolidation treatment, highlighting the need for long-term follow-up to improve therapy direction and identify patient groups needing additional support.
Purpose: To report the relapse and survival rates associated to treatment for patients with stage IC, grade 2 or grade 3 and IB grade 3 diseases considered high risk patients group for relapse.
Materials And Methods: From January 1993 to December 2003, 106 patients with endometrial cancer stage I were managed surgically in our institution. Based on data from the medical records, 106 patients with epithelial endometrial cancer met the following inclusion criteria: stage IC grade 2 or 3 and IB grade 3 with or without lymphovascular invasion.
Purpose: To evaluate the prognostic factors associated with overall survival in patients with brain metastasis treated with whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) and estimate the potential improvement in survival for patients with brain metastases, stratified by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) class.
Patients And Methods: From January 1996 to December 2000, 270 medical records of patients with diagnosis of brain metastasis, who received WBRT in the Hospital do Cancer Sao Paulo A.C.