Ricerc@Sapienza

COVID-19 is imposing unprecedented stress on our healthcare system but in some cases these
changes, such as more telemedicine for pain management, may be valuable paradigm shifts that shape the future of modern medicine. Pain does not stop for the pandemic and pain care must continue as well.

Cancer-related pain affects up to 80% of patients with malignancies. Pain is an important distressing symptom that diminishes the quality of life and negatively affects the survival of patients. Opioid analgesics are generally the primary therapy for cancer-related pain, with surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and other interventions used in cases of treatment-resistant pain. These treatments, which can be associated with substantial side effects and systemic toxicity, may not be effective.

Background: Newer models of palliative and supportive cancer care view the person as an active agent in managing physical and psychosocial challenges. Therefore, personal efficacy is an integral part of this model. Due to the lack of instruments in Italian to assess coping self-efficacy, the present study included the translation and validation of the Italian version of the Cancer Behavior Inventory-Brief (CBI-B/I) and an initial analysis of the utility of self-efficacy for coping in an Italian sample of palliative care patients.

Immune-checkpoint inhibitors significantly reshaped treatment landscapes in several solid tumors. Concurrently with disease-oriented therapies, cancer patients often require proper management of drug-related adverse events and/or cancer-related symptoms. Glucocorticoids (GC) are a cornerstone of symptom management in advanced cancer care and in the management of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) due to immune-modulating therapies. Moreover, GC are often administered in patients with autoimmune diseases (AID), either alone or in combination with other treatments.

We read with interest the paper by Hamada et al.1 (covered vs uncovered metal stents for malignant gastric outlet obstruction. Systematic review and metaanalysis”).
We prospectively analyzed the clinical outcomes of 72 patients2,3 and we came to similar conclusions. Conceptually, covered stents present the advantage of preventing tumor ingrowth within the stent and, being more compliant, they could facilitate pyloric motility. However, they dislodge
more easily, and distal migration of the stent can lead to serious consequences ...

Endometrial cancer currently represents the most frequent gynecologic malignancy in Western countries, and the seventh most common cancer in women. For advanced-stage disease, the recurrence risk is high, and the site of the relapse is heterogeneous with localized or spread peritoneal disease. There are few therapeutic strategies, and the quality of life is poor.

Background: Chemotherapy at the end of life is a complex and challenging problem in medical oncology. Patients affected by ovarian cancer (OC) often experience a chronicization and slow progression of their disease, and chemotherapy is proposed until the end of life.

Il contributo ripercorre la storia delle cure palliative a partire dall’hospice movement di Cecily Saunders, fino al riconoscimento da parte della World Health Organization e delle istituzioni del Consiglio d’Europa e, in Italia, fino all’approvazione della legge 38 del 2010.