Tagged with “side effects”
ArchivesAllergic Reactions to X-Ray Contrast Can Be Treated without Long Term Problems
Occasionally people having CT scans or other imaging exams will have an allergic-type reaction to the iodine contrast, but research has found that they can be treated safely without long term effects. In fact, almost all reactions are mild and more han 99 percent patients with them will get better within a day.
Radiologists at the University of Michigan hospitals in Ann Arbor studied nearly 85,000 intravenous injections of nonionic iodinated contrast media looking for allergic-type reactions. They analyzed both how the reactions were treated and whether there were any long term problems after a reaction. Continue reading…
Posted by Kate Murphy on August 4th, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | 1 Comment »
Tags: diagnosis, side effects
Switching from 5FU to Xeloda Can Cause Significant Side Effects
An immediate switch from 5-FU treatment to Xeloda® (capecitabine) for stage III colon cancer caused so much toxicity that a trial designed to test patient preferences for treatment had to be stopped.
Patients in the Patient Preference in Adjuvant Therapy (PACT) trial who switched after 6 weeks from weekly 5-FU with leucovorin to oral capecitabine experienced excessive side effects. The trial was designed to determine which approach to treatment patients liked best. Continue reading…
Posted by Kate Murphy on July 23rd, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: 5-FU, side effects, Xeloda
Soft Ice Cream Alternative to Nutritional Drinks
Cancer treatment can make it hard to eat. Both chemotherapy and radiation treatment can cause mouth sores, dry mouth, or poor appetite. Some patients develop thrush, a fungus infection in their mouths and throats, that makes swallowing very painful.
Traditionally canned or powdered nutritional supplement drinks like Ensure® or Boost® have been used to provide support to patients who are having trouble eating during treatment.
As an alternative, soft whip ice cream machines were installed on oncology wards in a hospital in the United Kingdom. The machines served a premium ice cream which had comparable protein to the nutritional drinks. Continue reading…
Posted by Kate Murphy on July 18th, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | 1 Comment »
Tags: appetite, mucositis, nutrition, side effects
Preventive Measures Reduce Rash from Vectibix
Nearly all patients who are treated with Vectibix™ (panitumumab) will develop an itchy skin rash that looks something like acne. However, treating the rash preemptively before it appears reduces its severity and lengthens the time before more serious rash appears.
During the STEPP (Skin Toxicity Evaluation Protocol with Panitumumab) trial, researchers randomized patients who were being treated with Vectibix to either preemptive skin rash management at the beginning of chemotherapy or reactive treatment once rash appeared. After six weeks, 70 percent of patients treated preemptively had not developed grade 2 skin rash. Sixty-two percent of the reactive group already had rash that was grade 2 or higher. Continue reading…
Posted by Kate Murphy on June 27th, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | 7 Comments »
Tags: panitumumab, side effects, skin rash, Vectibix
Xelox as Effective as FOLFOX after Colorectal Cancer Progresses
XELOX, as second-line therapy, was found to be as effective as the more commonly used FOLFOX treatment for patients whose cancer had already gotten worse on treatment with Camptosar® (irinotecan).
XELOX combines an oral drug Xeloda® (capecitabine) with Eloxatin® (oxaliplatin). FOLFOX uses an infusional schedule of 5FU and leucovorin.
Researchers randomly compared XELOX to FOLFOX4 to treat 627 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Patients had already received initial therapy with Camptosar and either had their cancer progress or were unable to tolerate the treatments. Although outcomes were similar for the two regimens, side effects differed.
Posted by Kate Murphy on June 13th, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: FOLFOX, metastatic colorectal cancer, side effects, survival, XELOX
