Posts by author
Janet Fricker
Prognostic biomarkers: could they help doctors, patients and families to better navigate the end of life?
“We had to explain that the reason she had broken her hip was because she was getting weaker and essentially dying… At that stage knowing whether Mum had days or months left would have been an important factor.” Helen Waddell,…
20-year WHI follow-up study finds oestrogen selectively protects against breast cancer in women who have undergone hysterectomy
A 20-year follow-up of the two Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) hormone replacement studies found that, among postmenopausal women with prior hysterectomy, use of oestrogen in comparison to placebo was associated with lower breast cancer incidence and mortality, while among those…
Dietary counseling remains cornerstone of cachexia management, say new ASCO guidelines
For cancer cachexia, dietary counseling should be offered with the goal of providing patients and caregivers with management advice, conclude the first guidelines on cachexia ever published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). In the absence of evidence,…
Dietary guidelines need reform to meet global health and environmental goals
National dietary guidelines in most countries need to be reformed to take into account health and environmental targets, concludes a study published in the BMJ (published online July 15). The international study, by UK, US and Australian investigators, found around…
Link between COVID-19 and prostate cancer raises possibility of new treatments
The overlapping biology identified between the molecular pathogenesis of COVID-19 and prostate cancer raises the possibility of repurposing drugs, including androgen deprivation therapy, for treating COVID-19, suggests a review in Nature Communications Biology, published 8 July. In the review the…
MDT meetings: why patient care suffers if I’m not there
In a disease as complex as cancer it seems the most logical way to ensure uniform standards of high quality care for all patients. Team meetings can also offer opportunities for education, provide a way to increase the number of…