Browsing by Subject "Breast cancer treatment"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema: A Review of Management and Innovative Surgical Techniques
    (European Society of Medicine, 2022) Newsom, Keeley D.; Xiang, David; Yang, Alan; Copeland-Halperin, Libby R.; Weiss, Anna; Broyles, Justin M.; Surgery, School of Medicine
    Lymphedema is one of the most feared complications of breast cancer treatment. The objective of this article is to review the basic workup, staging, and diagnostic criteria for lymphedema and to discuss non-surgical and surgical treatments, with a focus on breast-cancer related lymphedema. Non-surgical treatment consists of intensive physical therapy including manual lymphatic drainage via massage, daily compression wraps, and exercises to prevent scarring and increase mobility. Surgical intervention is considered when non-surgical treatment is ineffective or more recently as a preventive measure. Surgical interventions, used once lymphedema has developed, include 1) lympho-venous bypass, which is the anastomosis of lymphatic vessels distal to the site of dermal backflow to neighboring venules to shunt lymphatic drainage away from the area of lymphatic injury; 2) vascularized lymph node transplant, in which lymph nodes are harvested from a donor site with their supporting artery and vein and transferred to the affected recipient site; and 3) debulking procedures including liposuction and direct excision. Preventive surgical interventions include 1) lymphatic microsurgical preventive healing approach, known as LYMPHA, which also utilizes lympho-venous anastomoses but at the time of lymph node dissection to anastomose lymphatic channels transected during lymph node dissection with adjacent veins to preserve lymphatic drainage of the arm; and 2) axillary reverse mapping, which involves tracer or dye injection within the ipsilateral arm before axillary surgery so that the breast surgeons are able to delineate nodal drainage and therefore attempt to spare nodes specific to arm tissue provided they are not the sentinel lymph node. Patient selection is critical for these procedures, and requires a multi-disciplinary approach.
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    “How is it going to help?”: Exploring Black breast cancer patients’ questions about biomarker testing to predict chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy
    (Elsevier, 2022-12-13) Head, Katharine J.; Hayes, Lisa R.; Miller, Nadia E.; Shakil, Safia; Bales, Casey L.; Schneider, Bryan P.; Communication Studies, School of Liberal Arts
    Objective: Many Black breast cancer patients experience chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Our study assessed Black breast cancer patients' questions about a biomarker test that can predict likelihood of CIPN. Methods: Nineteen Black women who were previous/current breast cancer patients participated in focus groups. Researchers briefly explained CIPN and the biomarker test, and then participants were asked what questions they would have about the test and its use in treatment decisions. These participant-voiced questions composed the data for this study and were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Participants' questions centered on six themes: reasons for the test, effect on timeline of breast cancer treatment, testing procedure, limits of test (including accuracy), research done to develop this test (including research participants), and concerns about personal information connected to the test (including DNA). Conclusion: This study provides an exploratory look at questions that Black breast cancer patients may have about toxicity biomarker testing use in breast cancer treatment decisions. Innovation: These findings provide a starting point for developing patient-centered approaches for integrating this precision medicine tool into clinical care. The methodological choice to generate participants' questions (rather than answers to a question) led to robust, actionable data.
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    Patient-Reported Outcomes in the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium
    (Wiley, 2020-03) Bowen, Deborah J.; Shinn, Eileen H.; Gregrowski, Sophie; Kimmick, Gretchen; Dominici, Laura S.; Frank, Elizabeth S.; Smith, Karen Lisa; Rocque, Gabrielle; Ruddy, Kathryn J.; Pollastro, Teri; Melisko, Michelle; Ballinger, Tarah J.; Fayanju, Oluwadamilola M.; Wolff, Antonio C.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Members of the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium conducted an expert-driven literature review to identify a list of domains and to evaluate potential measures of these domains for inclusion in a list of preferred measures. Measures were included if they were easily available, free of charge, and had acceptable psychometrics based on published peer-reviewed analyses. A total of 22 domains and 52 measures were identified during the selection process. Taken together, these measures form a reliable and validated list of measurement tools that are easily available and used in multiple cancer trials to assess patient-reported outcomes in relevant patients.