What, precisely, are we seeking to achieve in offering 'life-saving' treatment to patients with cancer? Research funding agencies and pharmaceutical industry media releases, and government cancer screening programs all promise that their cancer programs save lives. But everybody dies. The nature of life and death from cancer is explored philosophically in this essay, with particular reference to the quality of life, and its meaning, during the period of prolongation of survival by 'life-saving' cancer care.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cbr.2021.0355 | DOI Listing |
Palliat Support Care
January 2025
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
Objectives: Explore humanitarian healthcare professionals' (HCPs) perceptions about implementing children's palliative care and to identify their educational needs and challenges, including learning topics, training methods, and barriers to education.
Methods: Humanitarian HCPs were interviewed about perspectives on children's palliative care and preferences and needs for training. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and arranged into overarching themes.
Front Immunol
January 2025
Faculty of Life and Biotechnology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China.
Background: Dysbiosis of the lung microbiome can contribute to the initiation and progression of lung cancer. Synchronous multiple primary lung cancer (sMPLC) is an increasingly recognized subtype of lung cancer characterized by high morbidity, difficulties in early detection, poor prognosis, and substantial clinical challenges. However, the relationship between sMPLC pathogenesis and changes in the lung microbiome remains unclear.
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January 2025
Department of Surgery, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA, United States.
Molecular characterization of tumors is essential to identify predictive biomarkers that inform treatment decisions and improve precision immunotherapy development and administration. However, challenges such as the heterogeneity of tumors and patient responses, limited efficacy of current biomarkers, and the predominant reliance on single-omics data, have hindered advances in accurately predicting treatment outcomes. Standard therapy generally applies a "one size fits all" approach, which not only provides ineffective or limited responses, but also an increased risk of off-target toxicities and acceleration of resistance mechanisms or adverse effects.
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January 2025
Integrated Care Management Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the current level of knowledge about lung cancer among urban residents in Sichuan Province and to assess its influence on their willingness to choose county-level or lower-level medical institutions for cancer screening.
Methods: A total of 31,184 urban residents of Sichuan Province were included in the cross-sectional study. Binary logistic regression and propensity score matching (PSM) were used to assess the influence effect.
Front Oncol
January 2025
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide and immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown favorable therapeutic effects in recurrent or metastatic or locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M/LA HNSCC). However, the effects of immunotherapy in HNSCC are still inconsistent because of complicating factors. This meta-analysis tries to provide a more precise assessment of the efficacy and safety of this integrated approach in HNSCC.
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