In the last decade, important advances have been made in understanding of cancer biology, particularly non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with the discovery of oncogenic drivers of the disease. The ...epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene and its pathways was the first oncogenic driver discovered to be mutated and treatable in lung cancer. Treatment with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is the standard of care for molecularly selected
EGFR
-mutant patients, while its role in unselected lung cancer patients is nowadays controversial. This review will provide an overview of the EGFR pathway and options for its treatment of lung cancer.
Nutritional biomarkers have several advantages in acquiring data for epidemiological and clinical studies over traditional dietary assessment tools, such as food frequency questionnaires. While food ...frequency questionnaires constitute a subjective methodology, biomarkers can provide a less biased and more accurate measure of specific nutritional intake. A precise estimation of polyphenol consumption requires blood or urine sample biomarkers, although their association is usually highly complex.
This article reviews recent research on urinary polyphenols as potential biomarkers of polyphenol intake, focusing on clinical and epidemiological studies. We also report a potentially useful methodology to assess total polyphenols in urine samples, which allows a rapid, simultaneous determination of total phenols in a large number of samples.
This methodology can be applied in studies evaluating the utility of urinary polyphenols as markers of polyphenol intake, bioavailability and accumulation in the body.
•Exercise is an important supportive care for patients with lung cancer.•Healthcare providers counseling have an impact on exercise level of their patients.•Clinicians have a positive perception of ...exercise in the lung cancer care context.•Overall, 63% assessed patient’s exercise, only 10% referred patients to an exercise program.
Exercise has been reported to alleviate disease as well as treatment impact in patients with lung cancer. Nevertheless, there is limited information available regarding the perception of lung cancer dedicated healthcare professionals’ and their advice on exercise.
An online survey exploring healthcare professionals’ practice patterns, perceptions, barriers, and facilitators of exercise in patients with lung cancer was conducted within members of the EORTC Lung Cancer Group (LCG).
One hundred forty-one healthcare providers completed the survey, mainly medical and radiation oncologists. Overall, 63% of the study participants declared that they frequently assessed exercise level in their patients, and 43% of them reinforced the importance of exercise. However, only 10% referred patients to an exercise program or specialist. Although the majority of the respondents had a positive perception regarding the benefits and safety of exercise (even in patients with advanced disease and/or bone metastasis), two-thirds of clinicians reported not having adequate training about exercise counselling. Moreover, 53% reported to lack of knowledge of guidelines referring to exercise in patients with cancer. Several obstacles and facilitators to improve exercise promotion in lung cancer care were identified.
Healthcare providers recognize the relevance and feasibility of exercise as part of cancer treatment intervention, but specific pathways to do the referral are frequently missing. Future structured and well-designed strategies and initiatives are needed to support an effective referral in order to implement exercise interventions routinely in clinical practice.
Purpose: Nowadays, there is a dramatic increase in the interest of potential impact of consumer-relevant engineered nanoparticles on pregnancy.
Materials and methods: This study investigated the ...possible protective effect of montelukast in neonatal organ toxicity induced by maternal exposure to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in rats.
Results: It was noticed that montelukast reduced serum urea, creatinine, renal caspase-3 immunoreactivity and IL-1β and increased total antioxidant capacity, as compared to AgNPs. In kidney and bone tissue, montelukast reduced oxidative stress parameters and TNF-α level that was increased with AgNPs. Surprisingly, montelukast administration increased epidermal growth factor (EGF) in bone and reduced it in kidney. Furthermore, as compared to AgNPs, montelukast improved histopathological picture of kidney and bone.
Conclusions: In conclusion, montelukast antagonized the biochemical and histopathological changes occurred in kidneys and bones of rat offspring by maternal exposure to AgNPs, mostly by anti-oxidant, anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory actions with a possible role for EGF.
Objectives. To explore perspectives of Turkish migrants with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on adherence to oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHA).
Design. In-depth interviews with 21 T2DM patients of ...Turkish descent recruited from primary care and community sources in Ghent, Belgium, using a theoretical sampling procedure. Analysis was guided by a grounded theory approach, using Nvivo 8.
Results. Respondents reported a multitude of barriers and facilitators of adherence to OHA. Some of these barriers are distinctive for T2DM patients of Turkish descent. Respondents' causal beliefs about stress and the Belgian climate often led to non-adherence during less stressful periods, like summer holidays in Turkey. Some respondents adjusted their medication use to food intake or during Ramadan fasting. Concerns about OHA were the main reason for the widespread use of herbal medicine in this sample. The religious framework used to interpret diabetes led, in combination with feelings of depression, to non-adherence in some respondents while it facilitated medication adherence in others. A potential gender effect with respect to the self-management of OHA was observed. Non-distinctive factors include: beliefs about OHA, polypharmacy, beliefs about the course of diabetes, forgetfulness, the perception of the doctor's medical expertise, feelings of depression and social support.
Conclusion. Health care providers should explore in detail and regularly patients' perspectives on illness beliefs, medication beliefs and their trust in doctors' medical expertise as this will provide useful starting points for promoting medication adherence. Whenever possible health care workers should engage with their patients in therapeutic alliances.
Coprocessing via spray drying was applied to improve the compactability of acetaminophen and to select an optimal formulation. Four-component mixtures containing acetaminophen, mannitol, erythritol, ...and maltodextrin were produced by cospray drying. A D-optimal mixture design was constructed to evaluate the spray dried powder and tablet properties. An increasing mannitol and erythritol content improved powder flowability and density. However, a higher erythritol concentration in the spray dried powder mixture had a negative influence on tablet tensile strength and friability. A higher maltodextrin content increased tablet tensile strength and improved tablet friability, while disintegration time, average particle size, powder flowability, density, and hygroscopicity were negatively influenced.
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