Incidentally discovered primary mediastinal germ cell tumor.

Most germ cell tumors arise from the testicles and often are self-diagnosed. Extragonadal germ cell tumors are rare and vary greatly in their clinical presentations. This case report describes a 24-year-old man with an unusual presentation for an extragonadal germ cell tumor.

Returning a Research Participant's Genomic Results to Relatives: Perspectives from Managers of Two Distinct Research Biobanks.

Research biobanks are heterogeneous and exist to manage diverse biosample types with the goal of facilitating and serving biomedical discovery. The perspectives of biobank managers are reviewed, and the perspectives of two biobank directors, one with experience in institutional biobanks and the other with national cooperative group banks, are presented. Most research biobanks are not designed, nor do they have the resources, to return research results and incidental findings to participants or their families.

Returning a Research Participant's Genomic Results to Relatives: Analysis and Recommendations.

Genomic research results and incidental findings with health implications for a research participant are of potential interest not only to the participant, but also to the participant's family. Yet investigators lack guidance on return of results to relatives, including after the participant's death. In this paper, a national working group offers consensus analysis and recommendations, including an ethical framework to guide investigators in managing this challenging issue, before and after the participant's death.

Effectiveness of standard of care protocol on patient satisfaction and perceived staff caring.

Background: Nurse caring has been linked to many clinical outcomes, including patient satisfaction, well-being, and healing. In addition, it is valued by nursing staff and viewed as being essential to clinical practice.

Objectives: The purpose of this program evaluation study was to determine the difference in patient satisfaction with overall nursing care and perceived nurse caring when a nursing staff standard of care protocol, which included caring activities, was implemented within a nursing department at a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center.

Targeted cancer. These "smart weapons" hit cancer in novel ways.

Be prepared to recognize and manage a new collection of adverse reactions that may arise from these innovative approaches to cancer therapy.

Caring for a patient with metastatic prostate cancer.

Learn about the latest treatments and what your patient needs to know at this difficult time.

Recovery after transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap breast reconstruction surgery.

Purpose/objectives: To assess pain and activity limitations and to determine realistic goals for recovery after a transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap breast reconstruction in a standard rehabilitation and recovery program. Assessing patient satisfaction with educational information is a secondary objective.

Design: Before and after comparison.

Looking at laryngeal cancer.

Learn how to support your patient through the physical and emotional challenges of diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.

Why you should consider working at a magnet hospital.

Here are the reasons I love working at a Magnet facility.

Risk for unplanned hospital readmission of patients with cancer: results of a retrospective medical record review.

Purpose/objectives: To identify potential factors that place patients with cancer at risk for unplanned readmissions after discharge from the hospital.

Design: Retrospective, descriptive, medical record review.

Setting: A National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in an urban area of the Northeastern United States.

Cytogenetics and molecular genetics of lung cancer.

The development and progression of lung cancer is a multistep process characterized by the accumulation of numerous genetic and epigenetic alterations, some of which occur early in the course of disease. In this review, we summarize cytogenetic imbalances and molecular genetic/epigenetic changes seen in human small-cell and non-small-cell lung cancer. Alterations of tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes leading to perturbations of key cell-regulatory and growth-control pathways are highlighted.

A systematic qualitative analysis of psychoeducational interventions for depression in patients with cancer.

Purpose/objectives: To determine whether research-based recommendations can be made about the clinical management of depression in patients with cancer.

Data Sources: Reports of scientific studies, qualitative or quantitative systematic reviews of scientific studies, and practice guidelines published from 1980-2000.

Data Synthesis: In all, 36 pieces of evidence supported the conclusion that psychoeducational interventions benefit depressive symptoms.

In their own words: using the common sense model to analyze patient descriptions of cancer-related fatigue.

Purpose/objectives: To describe cancer-related fatigue (CRF) from the perspective of individuals experiencing it and examine the fit of their descriptions with the concepts from the Common Sense Model (CSM).

Design: Exploratory, qualitative design,

Sample: A convenience sample of eight patients with cancer known to be experiencing fatigue from the outpatient clinic.

Methods: Content analysis of data obtained from focus groups.

Radiation oncology nurses: staffing patterns and role development.

A national survey that recently was conducted by the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) shows an alarmingly low level of budgeted staff nurse positions in radiation oncology departments. This report, coupled with persistent comments from radiation oncology nurses nationwide who say that they often are expected to spend more time on "clinic care" than on patient care, raises grave concerns for patients. Patients receiving radiation therapy must deal with the actual and potential side effects of therapy as well as the anxiety caused by therapy and the cancer diagnosis.