Cancer symptom burden negatively affects health-related quality of life in patients undergoing prehabilitation prior to liver resection: results from a 12-week randomized controlled trial.

Cancer symptoms negatively affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with cancer awaiting liver resection. Prehabilitation maintained HRQoL after surgery. Future studies should test whether relieving cancer symptoms can improve HRQoL.

Segmentation of Arm Ultrasound Images in Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema: A Database and Deep Learning Algorithm.

Objective: Breast cancer treatment often causes the removal of or damage to lymph nodes of the patient's lymphatic drainage system. This side effect is the origin of Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema (BCRL), referring to a noticeable increase in excess arm volume. Ultrasound imaging is a preferred modality for the diagnosis and progression monitoring of BCRL because of its low cost, safety, and portability.

Impact of Dietary Counseling on Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Cancer Awaiting Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery.

We examined the effectiveness of dietary counseling performed within a trimodal prehabilitation study for patients with cancer awaiting hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgery. Additionally, we explored relationships between nutritional status and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The dietary intervention aimed to achieve a protein intake of 1.

Diet and Exercise Interventions in Patients With Pancreatic Cancer: A Scoping Review.

Diet and exercise interventions may help reverse malnutrition and muscle wasting common in pancreatic cancer. We performed a scoping review to identify the knowledge gaps surrounding diet and exercise interventions. We searched PubMed, Scopus, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, ProQuest Theses and Dissertations, and Google Scholar using the umbrella terms of "pancreatic cancer," "diet/nutrition," and "exercise.

Validity and Usability of a Smartphone Image-Based Dietary Assessment App Compared to 3-Day Food Diaries in Assessing Dietary Intake Among Canadian Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Accurate dietary assessment is needed in studies that include analysis of nutritional intake. Image-based dietary assessment apps have gained in popularity for assessing diet, which may ease researcher and participant burden compared to traditional pen-to-paper methods. However, few studies report the validity of these apps for use in research.

Assessment of Mechanical Properties of Tissue in Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema Using Ultrasound Elastography.

Breast cancer-related lymphedema is a consequence of a malfunctioning lymphatic drainage system resulting from surgery or some other form of treatment. In the initial stages, minor and reversible increases in the fluid volume of the arm are evident. As the stages progress over time, the underlying pathophysiology dramatically changes with an irreversible increase in arm volume most likely due to a chronic local inflammation leading to adipose tissue hypertrophy and fibrosis.

Low Baseline Sympathetic Tone Correlates to a Greater Blood Pressure Change in the Cold Pressor Test.

Background: The cold pressor test (CPT) involves acute hand or foot exposure to cold water. CPT hyper-responders have unique traits, including risk of hypertension and a greater vasoconstrictor reserve and g force tolerance compared to hypo-responders. The purpose of this study was to uncover differences in cardiovascular and sympathetic biomarkers between responder types.

Kinematics and muscle activation patterns during a maximal voluntary rate activity in healthy elderly and young adults.

Background: Maximal voluntary rate (MVR) performance tasks can provide important age-related information to the limiting factors associated with movement and the development of fatigue.

Aim: To determine whether kinematic and muscle activation patterns during an MVR task differ between young and older adults.

Methods: We continuously measured frequency, amplitude, peak velocity, index of co-contraction and median frequencies of the index finger flexors and extensors during a 20-s MVR task in 10 young and 10 older subjects.

Use of routinely available clinical, nutritional, and functional criteria to classify cachexia in advanced cancer patients.

Background: Cachexia is a highly prevalent syndrome in cancer and chronic diseases. However, due to the heterogeneous features of cancer cachexia, its identification and classification challenge clinical practitioners.

Objective: To determine the clinical relevance of a cancer cachexia classification system in advanced cancer patients.

Meal context and food preferences in cancer patients: results from a French self-report survey.

Purpose: The present study examined patient self-reports of descriptions, experiences and consequences of meal disturbances and food preferences within a cultural context (i.e., French meal traditions) in various treated cancer patients along their disease trajectory.

Use of prediction equations to determine the accuracy of whole-body fat and fat-free mass and appendicular skeletal muscle mass measurements from a single abdominal image using computed tomography in advanced cancer patients.

Measurements of body composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and single abdominal images from computed tomography (CT) in advanced cancer patients (ACP) have important diagnostic and prognostic value. The question arises as to whether CT scans can serve as surrogates for DXA in terms of whole-body fat-free mass (FFM), whole-body fat mass (FM), and appendicular skeletal muscle (ASM) mass. Predictive equations to estimate body composition for ACP from CT images have been proposed (Mourtzakis et al.

A hypothesis for a possible synergy between ghrelin and exercise in patients with cachexia: Biochemical and physiological bases.

This article reviews the biochemical and physiological observations underpinning the synergism between ghrelin and ghrelin agonists with exercise, especially progressive resistance training that has been shown to increase muscle mass. The synergy of ghrelin agonists and physical exercise could be beneficial in conditions where muscle wasting is present, such as that found in patients with advanced cancer. The principal mechanism that controls muscle anabolism following the activation of the ghrelin receptor in the central nervous system involves the release of growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-1 (GH/IGF-1).

Identifying nutritional, functional, and quality of life correlates with male hypogonadism in advanced cancer patients.

With the availability of a potential treatment to reverse male hypogonadism (MH), the primary aim of this case series study was to determine independent relationships between this condition and the nutritional, functional, and quality of life characteristics of advanced cancer patients (ACP). Free testosterone levels were measured in 100 male patients with advanced lung and gastrointestinal (GI) cancer. Routine blood markers of nutrition and inflammation, self-reporting questionnaires for symptom, nutrition, and functional status along with handgrip dynamometry were assessed for all patients at bedside.

Impact of cancer and chemotherapy on autonomic nervous system function and cardiovascular reactivity in young adults with cancer: a case-controlled feasibility study.

Background: Preliminary evidence suggests cancer- and chemotherapy-related autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction may contribute to the increased cardiovascular (CV) morbidity- and mortality-risks in cancer survivors. However, the reliability of these findings may have been jeopardized by inconsistent participant screening and assessment methods. Therefore, good laboratory practices must be established before the presence and nature of cancer-related autonomic dysfunction can be characterized.

The abridged patient-generated subjective global assessment is a useful tool for early detection and characterization of cancer cachexia.

Cancer cachexia (CC) is a syndrome characterized by wasting of lean body mass and fat, often driven by decreased food intake, hypermetabolism, and inflammation resulting in decreased lifespan and quality of life. Classification of cancer cachexia has improved, but few clinically relevant diagnostic tools exist for its early identification and characterization. The abridged Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (aPG-SGA) is a modification of the original Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment, and consists of a four-part questionnaire that scores patients' weight history, food intake, appetite, and performance status.

Metabolic, nutritional and inflammatory characteristics in elderly women with advanced cancer.

Objective: Few studies have focused on the metabolic profiling of patients with advanced cancer and the relationship with nutritional and inflammatory characteristics, which have important diagnostic, treatment and prognostic implications, particularly in the elderly. Our objective was to determine differences in energy expenditure during rest and activity, body composition, nutrition, and inflammatory markers between healthy elderly females and those with advanced cancer.

Materials And Methods: Twenty elderly (74.

Determining the precision of dual energy x-ray absorptiometry and bioelectric impedance spectroscopy in the assessment of breast cancer-related lymphedema.

Background: The composition of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) has been shown to evolve from the initial accumulation of fluid to the development of fibrotic lesions and abnormal fat deposition. Therefore, precise and reliable assessments of BCRL are required to develop accurate staging and management. Although dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and bioelectric impedance spectroscopy (BIS) have been used to assess BCRL, no study has evaluated the precision of these two modalities in the same cohort.

Is IL-6 the best pro-inflammatory biomarker of clinical outcomes of cancer cachexia?

Background & Aims: Despite the descriptive presence of cancer cachexia (CC) in clinical practice, the underlying mechanisms and diagnostic definition have not been clearly identified. Recent work, attempting to establish diagnostic and staging criteria for CC, has identified IL-6 as a biomarker. This study aimed to investigate the clinical relevance of plasma levels of four pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β, IL-8 and TNF-α) in advanced cancer patients (ACP) to further establish their potential in the diagnostic definition of CC.

Cancer-related fatigue: the impact of skeletal muscle mass and strength in patients with advanced cancer.

BACKGROUND: Although exertional fatigue is directly and negatively related to skeletal muscle mass and strength, it is currently unknown if these variables are associated with cancer-related fatigue (CRF). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if CRF is associated with measures of appendicular lean muscle mass and strength in advanced cancer patients (ACP). METHODS AND RESULTS: Eighty-four patients (48 men, 36 women aged 61.

Relationship between angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphism and body composition, functional performance, and blood biomarkers in advanced cancer patients.

Purpose: Nutritional and functional outcome measures have been shown to vary in patients with chronic diseases according to the polymorphic alleles of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), but little is known about the associations between ACE gene polymorphism (ACEGP) and the components of body composition, strength, and selected blood markers in advanced cancer patients (ACP).

Experimental Design: Data were collected from an inception cohort of 172 newly diagnosed ACP with gastrointestinal and non-small cell lung cancer. ACEGP status was defined by the presence of one of the following three combinations of alleles: insertion/insertion, insertion/deletion, and deletion/deletion.

Precision and reliability of strength (Jamar vs. Biodex handgrip) and body composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry vs. bioimpedance analysis) measurements in advanced cancer patients.

Important deteriorations in body composition and strength occur and need to be accurately measured in advanced cancer patients (ACPs). The aim of this study was to establish the relationship between a single-frequency bioimpedance analyzer (BIA) and the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometer (DXA), as well as the Jamar handgrip dynometer and the Biodex handgrip attachment, and to determine the precision of each of these instruments in ACPs. Eighty-one ACPs with non-small-cell lung cancer and gastrointestinal cancer were recruited from the McGill University Health Centre (Montreal, Que.

Effectiveness of a self-administered, home-based exercise rehabilitation program for women following a modified radical mastectomy and axillary node dissection: a preliminary study.

Objective: This pilot study examined the effects of a self-administered, home-based exercise (HBE) rehabilitation programme designed to help women regain shoulder mobility immediately following surgery for a modified radical mastectomy and axillary node dissection.

Methods: Twenty-seven women who were scheduled for surgery were randomly assigned to either a post-surgical experimental HBE rehabilitation group (n = 16) or a usual care group (UC; n = 11). Women assigned to the HBE group followed an 11 day (days 3-14 post-surgery), home-based rehabilitation programme consisting of shoulder flexibility and stretching exercises that were described on videotape.

Test-retest reliability of pressure pain threshold measurements of the upper limb and torso in young healthy women.

Unlabelled: The goal of this study was to determine the intra- and interday reliability of pressure pain thresholds (PPT) in the upper extremity and torso of asymptomatic women. Nineteen healthy women (20-39 years) with no underlying musculoskeletal problems had 3 PPT trials performed on 8 different locations in the upper extremity and torso over 4 consecutive days. The test-retest reliability of PPT values was robust and highly consistent over the 4 days.