High prevalence of dyspnea in lung cancer: An observational study

Introduction:

Dyspnea is a subjective, multidimensional experience of breathing discomfort, commonly seen in patients with advanced cancer. This study is a secondary analysis to seek the clinical prevalence of dyspnea on a subset of patients with lung cancer. Improving the quality of life (QoL) in dyspnea requires aggressive symptom management, which in turn entails a detailed understanding of its symptomatology.

Materials and Methods:

This was a subset analysis of lung cancer patients of a prospective observational study done over 6 months from April to September 2014 at the Department of Palliative Medicine, Tata Memorial Centre (Mumbai).

Results and Conclusions:

About 71.43% of the patients with advanced lung cancer experienced dyspnea. Dyspnea increased with worsening fatigue, anxiety, appetite, and well-being. Patients described it as an increased sense of effort for breathing, and it lowered the QoL substantially.

Economics of Palliative and End-of-Life Care in India: A Concept Paper

Only a few studies have assessed the economic outcomes of palliative care in India. The major areas of interest include hospice care, the process and structure of care, symptom management, and palliative chemotherapy compared to best supportive care. At present, there is no definite health-care system followed in India. Medical bankruptcy is common. In situations where patients bear most of the costs, medical decision-making might have significant implications on economics of health care. Game theory might help in deciphering the underlying complexities of decision-making when considered as a two person nonzero sum game. Overall, interdisciplinary communication and cooperation between health economists and palliative care team seem necessary. This will lead to enhanced understanding of the challenges faced by each other and hopefully help develop ways to create meaningful, accurate, and reliable health economic data. These results can then be used as powerful advocacy tools to convince governments to allocate more funds for the cause of palliative care. Eventually, this will save overall costs and avoid unnecessary health-care spending.

Motivation of Volunteers to Work in Palliative Care Setting: A Qualitative Study

Background:

Volunteers are an integral part of the palliative care services in the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. These volunteers are an important resource for the department. Thus, it is necessary for the department to determine what motivates these volunteers to continue to work in the setting, acknowledge them and direct efforts toward retaining them and giving them opportunities to serve to the best of their desire and abilities.

Aims:

The current study aimed at understanding the motivation of volunteers to work in palliative care, to identify the challenges they face and also the effect of their work on their self and relationships.

Methodology:

In-depth interviews were conducted using semistructured interview guide to study above mentioned aspects. Themes were identified and coding was used to analyze the data.

Results:

The results suggested that the basic motivation for all the volunteers to work in a palliative care setting is an inherent urge, a feeling of need to give back to the society by serving the sick and the suffering. Other motivating factors identified were team spirit, comfort shared, warm and respectful treatment by the team, satisfying nature of work, experience of cancer in the family, and aligned values and beliefs. Some intrinsic rewards mentioned by volunteers were joy of giving, personal growth, enriching experiences, and meaningful nature of work.

Conclusion:

The study attempted to improve opportunities of working for these volunteers. Although limited in scope, it offers insight for future research in the area of volunteerism in palliative care setup.

Post-operative radiotherapy for Ewing sarcoma: when, how and how much?

Postoperative radiotherapy in Ewing family of tumors has undergone continuous evolution over the last few decades to establish its role in the combined modality management of these tumors. The process of evolution is still far from over. This review analyzes the evidence from major multi-institutional prospective trials as well as large retrospective institutional series in Ewing tumors to determine the current standards and controversies in postoperative radiation. The indications of PORT, radiation dose-fractionation, timing, target volumes and treatment planning, as well as the late effects are reviewed. A summary of evidence based consensus is presented and unresolved aspects are discussed. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2008;51:575-580. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the Waldeyer's ring: Is a higher radiotherapy dose required?

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Background: To evaluate the prognostic factors and treatment outcome of Indian patients with primary Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (NHL) of the Waldeyer's Ring (WR) region treated at a single institute. Methods: 269 patients with NHL of the WR treated at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai from January 1990 to December 2002 were included. The median age was 45 years and majority of the patients (67%) were males. Systemic symptoms were present in only 16% of patients, primary site was the tonsil in 58%, nasopharynx in 42% and base tongue in 5% of patients. Majority had Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (85%); 26% patients presented with stage I disease and 66% had stage II disease. Treatment comprised of a combination of chemotherapy (CTh) and radiotherapy (RT) in majority of the patients (71%). Among these patients, 63% received an RT dose of =45Gy. Results: The complete response rate was 68%. After a median follow-up of 57 months, the 5 year DFS & OS for the whole group were 62.2% and 70.1% respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that; age >30 years (HR=4.05, 95%CI=1.53–10.7, p=0.005), WHO performance score =2 (HR=2.36, 95%CI=1.12–4.95, p=0.023), T-cell lymphomas (HR=5.55, 95%CI=2.43–12.7, p<0.001), bulky tumors (HR=2.08, 95%CI=1.02–4.257, p=0.045), and nasopharyngeal primary (HR=3.26, 95%CI=1.51–7.02, p=0.003), had a negative influence on survival. Patients treated with a combination of CTh & RT had a significantly better outcome than those treated with CTh alone (OS: 78.9% vs. 48.1%, p<0.00001). The hazard ratio for death (HR) in the chemotherapy alone group was 3.50 (95% CI=2.17–5.65). The CR (p=0.01), DFS (p<0.0001) and OS (p=0.002) rates were significantly better for patients receiving a RT dose of =45Gy. The HR in the subgroup that received a RT dose of < 45Gy was 5.09 (95% CI=2.39–10.86). Conclusions: Age at diagnosis, WHO performance score, T-cell histological type, size and site of the tumor significantly influence outcome in patients with primary NHL of the Waldeyer's Ring. Combined modality treatment, comprising of CTh & RT (with an RT dose of =45Gy), results in satisfactory outcome in patients with this rare neoplasm.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Consolidation radiation after complete remission in Hodgkin's disease following six cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine chemotherapy: is there a need?

PURPOSE

Combined modality treatment using multidrug chemotherapy (CTh) and radiotherapy (RT) is currently considered the standard of care in early stage Hodgkin's disease. Its role in advanced stages, however, continues to be debated. This study was aimed at evaluating the role of consolidation radiation in patients achieving a complete remission after six cycles of doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) chemotherapy using event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) as primary end points.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Two hundred and fifty-one patients with Hodgkin's disease attending the lymphoma clinic at the Tata Memorial Hospital (Mumbai, India) from 1993 to 1996 received induction chemotherapy with six cycles of ABVD after initial staging evaluation. A total of 179 of 251 patients (71%) achieved a complete remission after six cycles of ABVD chemotherapy and constituted the randomized population. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either consolidation radiation or no further therapy.

RESULTS

With a median follow-up of 63 months, the 8-year EFS and OS in the CTh-alone arm were 76% and 89%, respectively, as compared with 88% and 100% in the CTh+RT arm (P =.01; P =.002). Addition of RT improved EFS and OS in patients with age < 15 years (P =.02; P =.04), B symptoms (P =.03; P =.006), advanced stage (P =.03; P =.006), and bulky disease (P =.04; P =.19).

CONCLUSION

Our study suggests that the addition of consolidation radiation helps improve the EFS and OS in patients achieving a complete remission after six cycles of ABVD chemotherapy, particularly in the younger age group and in patients with B symptoms and bulky and advanced disease.

Hypofractionated radiotherapy in carcinoma cervix IIIB: Tata Memorial Hospital experience

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

To analyze the role of hypofractionated radiotherapy in advanced carcinoma of cervix.

BASIC PROCEDURE

Medical records of 62 women with advanced carcinoma cervix III3 treated during 1994-1996 were reviewed. Patients were treated with standard pelvic portals to a total dose of 39Gy in 13 fractions over 17 days followed by intracavitary brachytherapy. Forty-eight patients completed the planned treatment and were considered suitable for analysis of late reactions and survival.

MAIN FINDINGS

The 5-year disease free survival was 59% and the overall survival was 50% at the mean follow up of 40 months. Twenty-one (44%) patients developed acute gastrointestinal toxicity of which 5 patients had grade III and one patient had grade IV reaction. Ten patients (21%) developed acute genitourinary complications, 13 patients (27%) had late rectal reactions and 10 patients (20%) had late bladder complications. Three patients had grade I, five had grade II and five had grade III late rectal toxicity.

CONCLUSION

Survival in patients treated hypofractionated radiotherapy appears comparable to that of standard fractionation. The acute gastrointestinal and skin reactions were mainly grade I or grade II. Hypofractionated radiotherapy can certainly be considered in a select group of patients where the local disease is extensive and is unsuitable for conventional treatment.

Hodgkin's disease relapse presenting as Pancoast's syndrome

Among the various infrequent causes of Pancoast's syndrome, Hodgkin's disease is one. A 26 year old man was diagnosed as Hodgkin's disease. Five years later the disease relapsed producing Pancoast's syndrome. The importance of precise aetiological diagnosis before treatment of such cases with similar presentation is emphasized.

Treatment results of Hodgkin's disease in Indian children

This is a retrospective study of Hodgkin's disease in children less than 15 years of age who were registered at Tata Memorial Hospital in India from January 1985 through December 1990. Clinicopathologic characteristics and response were evaluated in 147 patients and survival was calculated in 187. There were 126 boys and 21 girls (6:1). All patients were treated with combination chemotherapy and involved field radiotherapy. The COPP schedule was given to 108 patients. COPP/ABVD to 33, and ABVD to 6. Ninety-three patients (63%) had stage I or II disease and 54 (37%) had stage III or IV disease. B symptoms were observed in 65 patients (56%) and bulky disease in 40 (27%). Histologically, the most common subtype was mixed cellularity, seen in 95 patients (65%). Complete response was observed in 136 (89%), partial response in 6 (4%), and there were 4 treatment-related deaths. Relapse has been observed in 11%. Seven-year actuarial survival was 73% and event-free survival was 64%. Median survival has not yet been reached, with a median follow-up of 36 months.