Search results for "Neoplasms therapy"

COVID-19 infection in cancer patients: what has been the contribution of Associazione Italiana Oncologia Medica (AIOM) to oncological care since the …

2021

High mortality rates in elderly patients or in those with underlying chronic illnesses and/or a compromised immune system is a peculiar feature of COVID-19 infection. The possible coexistence of a cancer and COVID-19 infection in the same individual prompted concerns regarding their synergistic effect on prognosis. In order to balance patients’ needs with the risks related to the infection, the question oncologists have asked from the beginning of the first wave of the pandemic has been: ‘how can we deal with COVID-19 infection in cancer patients?’ In pursuing its mission, the Associazione Italiana Oncologia Medica (AIOM) has made every possible effort to support cancer patients, health car…

Diverse roles of GSK-3: tumor promoter-tumor suppressor, target in cancer therapy.

2013

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is a critical enzyme which participates in a complex array of important cellular processes and is often involved in various human diseases. It was first characterized in rat skeletal muscle as a serine/threonine (S/T) kinase that phosphorylated and inactivated glycogen synthase (GS). GS is the last enzyme in glycogen biosynthesis . Thus the initially identified role of GSK-3 was in metabolism. However, as we will soon see, GSK-3 has many diverse functions.

γδ T cell-based anticancer immunotherapy: Progress and possibilities

2015

Introduction: Historical Background

2009

Treatment of cancer patients with lipid A analogs is now feasible. This is the culmination of a long story, beginning hundreds of years ago, of progress in different scientific fields bacteriology, chemistry, immunology, genetics, cell biology and experimental medicine. Knowing the history of this domain of research is important in understanding why there is increasing acceptance among the scientific community of attempts to treat cancer with lipid A analogs.

Cancer costs and outcomes for common cancer sites in the Finnish population between 2009–2014

2018

The cost of cancer and outcomes of cancer care have been discussed a lot since cancer represents 3-6% of total healthcare costs and cost estimations have indicated growing costs. There are studies considering the cost of all cancers, but studies focusing on the cost of disease and outcomes in most common cancer sites are limited. The objective of this study was to analyze the development of the costs and outcomes in Finland between 2009 and 2014 per cancer site.The National cost, episode and outcomes data were obtained from the National register databases based on International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 diagnosis codes. Cost data included both the direct and indirect c…

Local delivery of mRNA-encoded cytokines promotes antitumor immunity and tumor eradication across multiple preclinical tumor models

2021

Local immunotherapy ideally stimulates immune responses against tumors while avoiding toxicities associated with systemic administration. Current strategies for tumor-targeted, gene-based delivery, however, are limited by adverse effects such as off-targeting or antivector immunity. We investigated the intratumoral administration of saline-formulated messenger (m)RNA encoding four cytokines that were identified as mediators of tumor regression across different tumor models: interleukin-12 (IL-12) single chain, interferon-α (IFN-α), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and IL-15 sushi. Effective antitumor activity of these cytokines relied on multiple immune cell populations and…

Salivary gland dysfunction (‘dry mouth’) in patients with cancer: a consensus statement

2009

A group of interested professionals was convened to develop some evidence-based recommendations on the management of salivary gland dysfunction (SGD) in oncology patients. A Medline search was performed to identify the literature on SGD. The abstracts of all identified papers were read, and the full texts of all relevant papers were reviewed. The evidence was graded according to the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network grading system for recommendations in evidence-based guidelines. The summary of the main recommendations are: (1) patients with cancer should be regularly assessed for SGD (grade of recommendation - D); (2) the management of SGD should be individualised (D); (3) consid…

Evolution of oncolytic viruses.

2015

Owing to their replicative capacity, oncolytic viruses (OVs) can evolve under the action of natural selection. Reversion to virulence and recombination with wild-type strains may compromise OV safety, therefore requiring evolutionary risk assessment studies. On the other hand, evolution can be directed in the laboratory to create more potent and safer OVs. Previous work in the experimental evolution field provides a background for OV directed evolution, and has identified interesting exploitable features. While genetic engineering has greatly advanced the field of oncolytic virotherapy, this approach is sometimes curtailed by the complexity and diversity of virus-host interactions. Directed…

Nanomedicine and macroscale materials in immuno-oncology

2019

Immunotherapy is revolutionizing the treatment of cancer. It can achieve unprecedented responses in advanced-stage patients, including complete cures and long-term survival. However, immunotherapy also has limitations, such as its relatively low response rates and the development of severe side effects. These drawbacks are gradually being overcome by improving our understanding of the immune system, as well as by establishing combination regimens in which immunotherapy is combined with other treatment modalities. In addition to this, in recent years, progress made in chemistry, nanotechnology and materials science has started to impact immuno-oncology, resulting in more effective and less t…

The lower the expectations in controlling the symptoms of advanced cancer patients, the better the clinical response.

2020

Aim The aim of this study was to compare patients' global impression (PGI) and the achievement of personalised symptom goal response (PSGR), after a comprehensive palliative care treatment in advanced cancer patients having high (HPSG) and low symptom goals (LPSG). Patients and methods Advanced cancer patients admitted to palliative care units rated symptoms intensity by the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Score (ESAS) at admission and then after one week of comprehensive palliative care treatment. For each symptom, patients were divided into two groups, according to their patient symptom goal (PSG): ≥4 (HPSG), and 0-2 (LPSG). PGI and PSGR were evaluated after one week of palliative care. The M…