NEED TO KNOW Dr. Kerith Whittigan is a palliative care physician in Australia who works with terminally ill patients of all ages She said that patients in their 20s with melanoma typically have one specific regret Whittigan is currently working to enact policy changes within Australian schools to lower nationwide melanoma rates A palliative care … Read more
Nearly all the world’s 10.6 million children experiencing serious health-related suffering (SHS) live in low- and middle-income countries with little to no access to palliative care specialized care for their illness, according to a comprehensive new report published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. The study defines SHS as physical, psychological, social or spiritual … Read more
At the end of every day the Barrett family puts a colourful sticker on the lounge room wall. It’s a symbol they have survived another day without their precious daughter and sister Abbey who died of brain cancer 18 months ago. She was 11. Justine says that since losing Abbey the family “talk a lot … Read more
If anyone can put a positive spin on the end of life, it’s Charles Vialotti, MD, director of Hospice Care at Holy Name Medical Center’s Villa Marie Claire in Bergen County, New Jersey. Violotti, who at the age of 80 lives at the 20-bed Villa Marie Claire to serve its residents full-time, says the hospice … Read more
An opioid prescribing practice standard for chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) was associated with accelerated declines in opioid doses and high-dose prescribing in British Columbia (BC) but also with more aggressive and inappropriate dose tapering, a new analysis showed. In addition, the standard resulted in restricted access to opioids for patients who may have benefited from … Read more
As Hurricane Helene approached western North Carolina, Martin Palmeri, MD, MBA, didn’t anticipate the storm would disrupt practice operations for more than a day or so. But the massive rainfall and flooding damage last September proved to be far more challenging. Despite best efforts by the 13-physician practice, basic treatments for most patients were interrupted … Read more
Cancer statistics in Europe are encouraging: Between 1989 and 2025, nearly 7 million deaths were averted in the European Union (EU), including over 373,000 from breast cancer. This finding emerged from a study recently published in the Annals of Oncology by a team of researchers led by Carlo La Vecchia from the University of Milan … Read more
CHICAGO — Extended therapy with reduced-dose apixaban is just as effective as the high dose in preventing recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with active cancer who completed at least 6 months of anticoagulant treatment after a clot, and results in a lower rate of clinically relevant bleeding, the API-CAT trial shows. “Our results indicate … Read more
Harnessing the Chill: Cryotherapy as a Promising Solution for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy As the medical community continues to search for advancements in cancer treatment, a relatively low-risk and emerging practice called cryotherapy is gaining attention for its potential to mitigate one of chemotherapy’s most dreaded side effects: peripheral neuropathy. Recent research is painting a compelling … Read more
Cryotherapy is emerging as a promising, low-risk approach to combat chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, a common and potentially devastating toxicity of chemotherapy. A growing body of research suggests that cryotherapy, or cold therapy, significantly reduces the incidence of this chemotherapy-induced nerve damage, especially among patients receiving taxane-based chemotherapy. Despite the encouraging evidence, cryotherapy is not a … Read more