Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Work Of Living With A Rare Cancer: Multiple Myeloma, Moira Stephens, Heather Mckenzie, Christopher Jordens

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Aim To report findings from a qualitative study of the experiences of long-term survivors of multiple myeloma. Background Multiple Myeloma is a malignant disease of the bone marrow. Until recently, it was rapidly fatal. Although it remains incurable, people diagnosed with it are living longer on average, largely due to new treatments, some of which have onerous side effects. Design Prospective descriptive study. Method A series of 47 in-depth interviews were conducted at 6-12 month intervals over 18 months in 2008-2010 with 10 long-term survivors of myeloma and their primary support person. Interviews were analysed using the constant comparative method …

Anthropogenic Selection Enhances Cancer Evolution In Tasmanian Devil Tumours, Beata Ujvari, Anne-Maree Pearse, Kate Swift, Pamela Hodson, Bobby Hua, Stephen Pyecroft, Robyn Taylor, Rodrigo Hamede, Menna Jones, Katherine Belov, Thomas Madsen

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) provides a unique opportunity to elucidate the long-term effects of natural and anthropogenic selection on cancer evolution. Since first observed in 1996, this transmissible cancer has caused local population declines by >90%. So far, four chromosomal DFTD variants (strains) have been described and karyotypic analyses of 253 tumours showed higher levels of tetraploidy in the oldest strain. We propose that increased ploidy in the oldest strain may have evolved in response to effects of genomic decay observed in asexually reproducing organisms. In this study, we focus on the evolutionary response of DFTD to …

Synthesis, Structural Characterisation, And Preliminary Evaluation Of Non-Indolin-2-One-Based Angiogenesis Inhibitors Related To Sunitinib (Sutent®), Pichit Sudta, Nicholas Kirk, Anna Bezos, Anthony Gurlica, Rhys Mitchell, Thomas Weber, Anthony C. Willis, Samran Prabpai, Palangpon Kongsaeree, Christopher R. Parish, Sunit Suksamrarn, Michael J. Kelso

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The indolin-2-one fused-ring system and the 2,4-dimethylpyrrole unit represent key structural motifs in the anticancer drug sunitinib (Sutent®) and predecessor angiogenesis inhibitors that have undergone anticancer clinical trials (e.g. semaxanib, SU5416). In pursuit of novel anti-angiogenic scaffolds, we were interested in identifying whether the indolin-2-one group in these structures could be modified without losing activity. This paper describes novel condensation chemistry used to prepare a test series of (E)- and (Z)-alkenes related to SU5416 that retain the 2,4-dimethylpyrrole unit while incorporating ring-opened indolin-2-ones. Unique structural characteristics were identified in the compounds, such as intramolecular hydrogen bonds in the (Z)-alkenes, and …

Self-Reported Side Effects Of Breast Cancer Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Study Of Incidence, Associations, And The Influence Of Exercise, Sheridan A. Gho, Julie R. Steele, Sandra C. Jones, Bridget J. Munro

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Purpose Side effects as a result of breast cancer treatment may have a lasting detrimental impact on quality of life. Exercise has been shown to be an effective intervention in post-treatment care. This study aimed to gain a better understanding of breast cancer treatment-related side effects through identifying potential patient characteristic associations, including current levels of exercise.

Methods Four hundred and thirty-two breast cancer patients completed an online survey covering their treatment and demographic background, current exercise levels, and self-reported treatment side effects. Side effects were considered in a binary logistic regression against age, surgery, currently undergoing treatment, and exercise …

A Food Photograph Series For Identifying Portion Sizes Of Culturally Specific Dishes In Rural Areas With High Incidence Of Oesophageal Cancer, Martani Lombard, Nelia Steyn, Hester-Mari Burger, Karen Charlton, Marjanne Senekal

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Rural areas of the Eastern Cape (EC) Province, South Africa have a high incidence of squamous cell oesophageal cancer (OC) and exposure to mycotoxin fumonisin has been associated with increased OC risk. However, to assess exposure to fumonisin in Xhosas—having maize as a staple food—it is necessary to determine the amount of maize consumed per day. A maize-specific food frequency questionnaire (M-FFQ) has recently been developed. This study developed a food photograph (FP) series to improve portion size estimation of maize dishes. Two sets of photographs were developed to be used alongside the validated M-FFQ. The photographs were designed to …

Oxaliplatin, Fluorouracil, And Leucovorin As Adjuvant Treatment For Colon Cancer, Thierry Andre, Corrado Boni, Lamia Mounedji-Boudiaf, Matilde Navarro, Josep Tabernero, Tamas Hickish, Clare Topham, Marta Zaninelli, Phillip Clingan, John Bridgewater, Isabelle Tabah-Fisch, Aimery De Gramont

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

BACKGROUND: The standard adjuvant treatment of colon cancer is fluorouracil plus leucovorin (FL). Oxaliplatin improves the efficacy of this combination in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. We evaluated the efficacy of treatment with FL plus oxaliplatin in the postoperative adjuvant setting. METHODS: We randomly assigned 2246 patients who had undergone curative resection for stage II or III colon cancer to receive FL alone or with oxatiplatin for six months. The primary end point was disease-free survival. RESULTS: A total of 1123 patients were randomly assigned to each group. After a median follow-up of 37.9 months, 237 patients in the group …