Patient-perceived symptomatic benefits of olanzapine treatment for nausea and vomiting in patients with advanced cancer who received palliative care through consultation teams: a multicenter prospective observational study.

Purpose: To examine the safety, effectiveness, and patient-perceived benefit of treatment with olanzapine for nausea and vomiting (N/V) in patients with advanced cancer.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter prospective observational study in a tertiary care setting (Trial registration number: UMIN000020493, date of registration: 2016/1/12). We measured the following: average nausea in the last 24 h using a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS: range 0-10) at baseline and day 2, patient-perceived treatment benefit (based on a 5-point verbal scale), and adverse events (AEs; using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4).

Efficacy of tapentadol for first-line opioid-resistant neuropathic pain in Japan.

Background: Cancer-related neuropathic pain is sometimes unresponsive to multidrug treatment. Novel drugs are required to treat such severe pain without necessitating the use of adjuvant analgesics. Tapentadol is a new drug that has a dual mechanism as both an opioid agonist and noradrenalin reuptake inhibitor.

Supportive care needs and psychological distress and/or quality of life in ambulatory advanced colorectal cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Although currently many advanced colorectal cancer patients continuously receive chemotherapy, there are very few findings with regard to the supportive care needs of such patients.

Methods: The purposes of this study were to investigate the patients' perceived needs and the association with psychological distress and/or quality of life, and to clarify the characteristics of patients with a high degree of unmet needs. Ambulatory colorectal cancer patients who were receiving chemotherapy were asked to complete the Short-Form Supportive Care Needs Survey questionnaire, which covers five domains of need (health system and information, psychological, physical, care and support, and sexuality needs), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire.

Nuclear expression of TCF4/TCF7L2 is correlated with poor prognosis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The prognosis for patients with esophageal cancer remains poor. Therefore, the identification of novel target molecules for the treatment of esophageal cancer is necessary. Here, we investigated the clinicopathological significance of transcription factor 4/transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF4/TCF7L2) in resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), because TCF4/TCF7L2 expression has not been studied in esophageal cancer previously.

Decreased expression of CDH1 or CTNNB1 affects poor prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer.

Background: E-cadherin/CDH1 is one of the proteins involved in cell adhesion, and it is known that decreased expression of E-cadherin induces lymph node metastasis in esophageal cancer. Beta catenin/CTNNB1, which is an important component of the Wnt signaling pathway, binds to E-cadherin at the cell membrane, where the complex of these two proteins functions in the stabilization of cell adhesion. However, its role in the pathogenesis of esophageal cancer is still unknown.

A Retrospective Study on the Effectiveness of Switching to Oral Methadone for Relieving Severe Cancer-Related Neuropathic Pain and Limiting Adjuvant Analgesic Use in Japan.

Background: Cancer-related neuropathic pain is resistant to treatment with multiple medications and results in reduced patient quality of life.

Objective: The aim was to find a new curative to treat neuropathic pain without using adjuvant analgesics.

Design: This was a retrospective study that used the FACES Pain Scale (FPS) to measure pain intensity and pain relief.

Anxiety in disease-free breast cancer patients might be alleviated by provision of psychological support, not of information.

Objective: This study investigates the prevalence of clinical anxiety, the possible impact of patients' anxiety on quality of life and the association between their anxiety levels and patients' perceived needs.

Methods: Randomly selected disease-free patients with breast cancer who survived >2 years were invited to participate in the study. The participants were asked to complete the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C 30 and the Short-form Supportive Care Needs Survey questionnaire, which covers five domains of need (health system and information, psychological, physical, care and support and sexuality needs).

Good death for children with cancer: a qualitative study.

Objective: This study aims to explore the characteristics of a good death for children with cancer.

Methods: A total of 10 pediatric cancer survivors, 10 bereaved family members and 20 medical professionals participated in in-depth interviews. Qualitative content analysis was performed on the transcribed data obtained from semi-structured interviews.

Induction of apoptosis by eicosapentaenoic acid in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) suppresses the proliferation of cell lines derived from colon, pancreatic, breast and other cancers. Few reports have described the effect of EPA on esophageal cancer cell lines.

Materials And Methods: We investigated the effect of EPA on the proliferation of the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines TE11 and KYSE180 with a WST-1 assay.

Difference of patient's perceived need in breast cancer patients after diagnosis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference of patients' perceived needs after cancer diagnosis. Differences in quality of life and psychological distress were also examined.

Methods: Ambulatory breast cancer patients who were randomly selected participated in this study.

Assessing medical decision making capacity among cancer patients: Preliminary clinical experience of using a competency assessment instrument.

Object: This study investigates the usefulness of the Structured Interview for Competency and Incompetency Assessment Testing and Ranking Inventory (SICIATRI) for cancer patients, which is a structured interview that assesses a patient's competency in clinical practice.

Methods: The SICIATRI, originally developed to measure patients' competency to give informed consent, were administered referred cancer patients who needed for assessing medical decision making capacity. The usefulness of the SICIATRI was investigated retrospectively.

Giant cardiac fibroma.

A 29-year-old woman who presented with persistent ventricular premature beat during her delivery was referred to us. Her cardiac echocardiography showed a giant tumor located in the posterior wall of the left ventricle. She had no symptoms of heart failure.

Primary lymphoma of the heart: case report and literature review.

Primary cardiac lymphoma (PCL) is a rare and usually fatal neoplasma. A case of PCL in a 78-year-old man who complained of exertional dyspnea and peripheral edema is presented. Echocardiography revealed a mass in the right atrium and a diagnosis of low-grade B-cell lymphoma was obtained with the surgically resected tumor.