An assessment of childhood cancer care services in India - gaps, challenges and the way forward.

Background: Childhood cancers are emerging as an essential concern in India where there is lack of a specific programme component or policy to address childhood cancer control. There is limited information on the status and quality of childhood cancer care services in India. This paper describes the childhood cancer care services available at secondary and tertiary-level hospitals in India through a cross sectional study design.

Dosimetric Comparison of Different Dose Calculation Algorithms in Postmastectomy Breast Cancer Patients Using Conformal Planning Techniques.

Background: The aim of the current study was to compare three different dose-calculating algorithms, i.e., superposition (SP), fast SP (FSP), and convolution (CV), for breast cancer patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and field-in-Field forward plan IMRT (FiF-FP-IMRT).

Dose Agreement Analysis of Treatment Planning System-Calculated Doses and Markus Chamber-Measured Doses in the Near-Surface Region for Breast Cancer Patients' Conformal Treatment Plans.

Background: Surface/skin dose measurement is one of the most challenging tasks for clinical dosimetry in radiotherapy and comparison with almost all the commercially available treatment planning systems (TPSs) brings a significant variation with the measured dose.

Aims And Objectives: In the current study, doses calculated from the TPS in the near-surface region for conformal plans (both three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy [3DCRT] and intensity-modulated radiotherapy [IMRT]) of 35 breast cancer patients were evaluated and compared with the doses measured with Markus chamber.

Materials And Methods: The computed tomography (CT) images of a solid water slab phantom with a Markus chamber (at different depths ranging from 1 mm to 5 mm from the surface) were taken and imported into the TPS.

Biochemical analysis of saliva in head and neck cancer patients receiving definitive chemoradiotherapy.

Background: Radiation therapy leads to salivary gland damage that causes xerostomia, the standard radiation-induced complication during radiotherapy that affects the quality of life in head and neck cancer patients. This study was conducted at a tertiary cancer institute in Punjab state to analyze the influence of radiation therapy on various parameters and substances of saliva.

Materials And Methods: Sixty head and neck cancer patients who underwent conventional radiotherapy on a Cobalt machine were included.

To Evaluate the Role of Positron Emission Tomography-Computerized Tomography in Initial Staging of Carcinoma Breast.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in urban and second common in rural Indian women. In India, in spite of the best treatment available being given to the patients they lose their lives because of paucity of diagnostic aids and lack of an organized breast cancer screening program. Early detection, accurate staging, and initiation of appropriate therapy are the key factors for improving the treatment outcome and prognosis of the disease for the patients.

Functional and biochemical changes in the thyroid gland following exposure to therapeutic doses of external beam radiotherapy in the head-and-neck cancer patients.

Context: Majority of the head-and-neck cancers are locoregionally advanced at the time of diagnosis. Hence, radiotherapy (RT) portals will invariably cover the whole neck and thus, the thyroid gland which may lead to its dysfunction.

Aims: The purpose of this study is to identify the functional and biochemical changes in the thyroid gland following RT to the neck using single-photon emission computed tomography-computed tomography (SPECT-CT) and thyroid function tests (TFTs).

Genomic alterations associated with HER2+ breast cancer risk and clinical outcome in response to trastuzumab.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive (HER2+) breast cancer (BC) is an aggressive BC subtype characterized by HER2 overexpression/amplification. Genomic alterations of HER2 and others have been reported to be associated with, HER2 overexpression and prediction of trastuzumab-response. Here, we aimed at identifying germline and somatic alterations associated with HER2+ BC and evaluating their association with clinical outcome in response to trastuzumab therapy given to HER2+ BC patients.

Association of elevated levels of C-reactive protein with breast cancer, breast cancer subtypes, and poor outcome.

Background And Purpose: Inflammation and caner are linked in a bidirectional manner. C-reactive protein (CRP) is an important inflammatory marker. The aim of the study was to test whether the inflammatory marker, CRP at the time of diagnosis of breast cancer is associated with metastasis, recurrence, and death in breast cancer patients from Malwa region of Punjab where breast cancer is widely feared.

Assessment of Adequacy of Pain Management and Analgesic Use in Patients With Advanced Cancer Using the Brief Pain Inventory and Pain Management Index Calculation.

Purpose: The objective of this cross-sectional, noninterventional, 6-month observational study was to assess the adequacy of pain management in patients with cancer admitted to the Oncology Department of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College in Faridkot, India.

Methods And Materials: A total of 348 patients with cancer were recruited for evaluation of the prevalence of inadequate cancer pain management using the Brief Pain Inventory Pain Management Index.

Results: The current study included 127 males (36.

Recent Updates on the Therapeutic Potential of HER2 Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Breast Cancer.

HER2 positive breast cancer is characterized by the low survival rate in the metastatic patients. Development of resistance and disease-relapse are the major problems associated with the currently available therapies for HER2 positive breast cancer. There are two major targeted therapies for HER2 positive breast cancer viz.

Assessment of Cancer-related Fatigue among Cancer Patients Receiving Various Therapies: A Cross-sectional Observational Study.

Objective: The objective of this cross-sectional, noninterventional 3-month observational study was to analyze the prevalence of the cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in cancer patient populations with correlation of CRF with different treatment modalities.

Materials And Methods: A descriptive study was carried out jointly by the pharmacology and oncology departments of a tertiary care center in the Malwa region of Punjab. The data collection was performed by administering the validated Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) after obtaining the informed consent.

Changing Trends of Skin Cancer: A Tertiary Care Hospital Study in Malwa Region of Punjab.

Introduction: Skin cancer constitutes a small but significant proportion of patients with cancer. Although the presence of eumelanin in dark skin is protective against the development of skin cancer, it is increasingly being diagnosed in the Indian population.

Aim: To study the profile of skin cancer patients presenting to a tertiary hospital in Malwa area of Punjab, India.

Imatinib mesylate induced erythroderma: A rare case series.

Imatinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved as a first line treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Usually the drug is well-tolerated with hematological adverse effects being most commonly seen. Dermatological side effects are seen in 9.

Tolerance of skin grafts to postoperative radiotherapy.

Aim: The aim was to evaluate the integrity and functional outcomes of skin grafts following external beam radiotherapy (EBRT).

Materials And Methods: A prospective study of 15 patients, in whom EBRT was planned after their wound coverage with split-thickness skin graft (STSG). Parameters evaluated include defect size, time to postoperative radiotherapy, total radiotherapy dose, delays and interruptions in radiotherapy, wound complications, and the need for further surgical interventions.

Carcinoma base of tongue: single institution 15 year experiences.

Aims: To report the outcome with radiotherapy and concomitant chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma base of tongue treated and followed up at single institution over a period of 15 years.

Materials And Methods: This study was carried out by auditing the medical records of 103 patients treated at our institution between 1991 and 2006. Mean age with standard deviation of patients in the Radiotherapy only (group I) and chemoradiotherapy (group II) was 55.

Thyroid diseases as a sequelae following treatment of head and neck cancer.

Aims: To evaluate the radiation-induced sequelae on thyroid gland and influence of concomitant chemotherapy.

Materials And Methods: This prospective study was carried out on 53 patients of head and neck carcinoma in the age group of 30-75 years (55.9 years).

Antimicrobial drug use in a small Indian community hospital.

Antimicrobial drug use and overuse have been a topic of interest for many years, lately focusing on the growing resistance worldwide. This study was conducted in a small Indian hospital, where more than 80% of all admitted patients received antimicrobial drugs. Penicillin, gentamycin, co-trimoxazole, ciprofloxacin and metronidazole were most commonly used and all antimicrobial drugs were given empirically with no confirmation of the infective agent.