The purpose of this meta-analysis was to analyze the available evidence concerning the effects of depression on non-adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) in women with breast cancer. MEDLINE and PsycInfo databases from inception through May 1, 2015 were searched using terms related to AET adherence. Articles were reviewed and selected based on predetermined selection criteria, and effect sizes from included studies were extracted. Pooled effect estimates were obtained using random-effects meta-analyses. Of the 312 articles identified, 9 met the inclusion criteria. Overall, depression was significantly associated with non-adherence to AET (Cohen's d = 0.35, 95% CI 0.19-0.52). This effect was not significantly moderated by patient age (<65 vs ≥65 years), length of study follow-up (<18 months vs ≥18 months), or method of assessing adherence (objective vs self-report). However, within these subgroups, significant effects of depression were found only for younger patients (d = 0.46; 95% CI 0.19-0.72) and in studies of shorter duration (<18 months) (d = 0.49; 95% CI 0.22-0.76). These results suggest that AET adherence may be lower among women with greater depressive symptoms, and this effect may be exacerbated in younger women during the early phases (<18 months) of AET. Management of depressive symptoms in women with breast cancer may help in enhancing adherence to AET and improve cancer treatment outcomes.

Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is the second most common cause of visual loss in the Western World. RVO is usually classified into branch RVO (BRVO) and central RVO (CRVO) according to the anatomical site of the vascular occlusion. The pathogenesis of RVO is not yet fully understood, however an important event is the intraluminal thrombus formation, which is usually secondary to several conditions such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and thrombophilia. The blockage of venous circulation causes an elevation of intraluminal pressure in the capillaries, leading to hemorrhages and leakage of fluid within the retina, increase of interstitial pressure and a consequent reduction of retinal perfusion. Ischemia may develop resulting in secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that causes further vascular leakage and retinal oedema. VEGF has therefore a leading role in RVO pathogenesis and symptoms. As a consequence use of anti-VEGF agents by intravitreal injections has become very common with the aim to improve the clinical outcomes in these patients. Currently 2 anti-VEGF agents (ranimizumab and aflibercept) have been FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and EMA (European Medicine Agency) approved for the treatment of RVO, while another VEGF inhibitor (bevacizumab) is often used "off-label" in clinical practice. Many treatment regimens have been suggested in the clinical trials with these drugs, as monthly injections or injections when needed, however the ideal regimen has not been defined yet. We conducted a systematic review searching MEDLINE for the following terms: retinal vein occlusion, ranibizumab, bevacizumab, aflibercept, vascular endothelial growth factor, macular oedema. Data were extracted by one author (AG and BE) and checked by a second (BPM, CC). Aim of this article was to review available data for each drug, focusing on their efficacy and safety trying to compare their advantages and limits.

Pruritus has been described with targeted therapies in cancer patients. We performed an up-to-date meta-analysis to determine the incidence and RR in patients with cancer treated with these agents.

Major adjuvant therapies (ATs) for resected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) include chemotherapy, internal radiation therapy (IRT), interferon therapy (IFNT) and immunotherapy but the optimum regimen remains inconclusive. We aim to compare these therapies in terms of patient survival and recurrence rates.

Delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) remains an important adverse effect of moderately emetogenic chemotherapy not containing anthracyclines and cyclophosphamide (non-AC MEC). In this review, we summarize current literature to update recommendations for delayed CINV prophylaxis after non-AC MEC.

To systematically review evidence of treatments for cognitive impairments experienced by at least 20% of all women who undergo chemotherapy for breast cancer.

The authors performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of diarrhea and stomatitis associated with the use of everolimus, temsirolimus or ridaforolimus in patients with solid tumors.

The benefits associated with some cancer treatments do not come without risk. A serious side effect of some common cancer treatments is cardiotoxicity. Increased recognition of the public health implications of cancer treatment-induced cardiotoxicity has resulted in a proliferation of systematic reviews in this field to guide practice. Quality appraisal of these reviews is likely to limit the influence of biased conclusions from systematic reviews that have used poor methodology related to clinical decision-making. The aim of this meta-review is to appraise and synthesise evidence from only high quality systematic reviews focused on the prevention, detection or management of cancer treatment-induced cardiotoxicity.

Lenalidomide has emerged as an important treatment for patients with multiple myeloma (MM). However, its role in the management of MM is still controversial and requires further clarification. The aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy and safety of lenalidomide for MM using a meta-analysis.

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of physical exercise in decreasing fatigue in cancer patients during active treatment. The PubMed Central, EMBASE, and OVID databases were consulted up to April 2014 to identify randomized clinical trials that evaluated the effect of exercise on fatigue in cancer patients undergoing active treatment. Eleven studies (n = 1,407) were included. Chemotherapy was the most common form of treatment (n = 1,028). The studies showed a low risk of bias and high methodological quality. Effect estimates showed that physical exercise significantly improved fatigue (SMD = -3.0; 95%CI: -5.21; -0.80), p < 0.0001. Similar effects were found for resistance training (SMD = -4.5; 95%CI: -7.24; -1.82), p = 0.001. Significant improvements were found in breast and prostate cancer patients (p < 0.05). Exercise is a safe and effective intervention in the management fatigue in cancer patients undergoing active treatment.

Laetrile is the name for a semi-synthetic compound which is chemically related to amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside from the kernels of apricots and various other species of the genus Prunus. Laetrile and amygdalin are promoted under various names for the treatment of cancer although there is no evidence for its efficacy. Due to possible cyanide poisoning, laetrile can be dangerous.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a spice traditionally used to treat indigestion, nausea and vomiting. Ginger extracts accelerate gastric emptying and stimulate gastric antral contractions. These effects are mainly due to the presence of gingerols and shogaols and their activity on cholinergic M receptors and serotonergic 5-HT and 5-HT receptors. Various researches on this subject have led to controversial results, due to the chemical instability of ginger extracts and particularly of gingerols, which are readily-oxidizable substances. A systematic review of double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized studies highlighted the potential efficacy of ginger on the prevention and treatment of nausea and vomiting of various origins, even though additional controlled studies are needed. This review focuses on pregnancy-induced nausea and vomiting and on chemotherapy induced nausea, and hypothesizes a therapeutic role for ginger extracts in case of side effects, as an alternative to traditional prokinetic drugs such as domperidone, levosulpiride or metoclopramide.

Pulmonary toxicity is a well-known complication observed with several anticancer drugs. Docetaxel, a taxane chemotherapy drug widely used in the treatment of many types of solid tumors including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), rarely causes infiltrative pneumonitis. The exact mechanism by which docetaxel develops this side effect is not well understood; probably it is produced by type I and IV hypersensitivity responses. Here we describe 2 cases of infiltrative pneumonitis induced by docetaxel as second-line chemotherapy in advanced NSCLC.

Patient response to chemotherapy for ovarian cancer is extremely heterogeneous and there are currently no tools to aid the prediction of sensitivity or resistance to chemotherapy and allow treatment stratification. Such a tool could greatly improve patient survival by identifying the most appropriate treatment on a patient-specific basis.

We systematically reviewed the evidence for the interaction of microsatellite instability status (MSI) and treatment with 5FU in colorectal cancer to determine how well MSI status predicts health outcomes in patients undergoing 5FU-based chemotherapy.

Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody targetting the CD20 antigen with the ability to increase overall remission (OR) in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL). A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to determine the risk of the most clinically relevant severe and fatal adverse events (AEs) associated with the use of rituximab in the treatment of B-NHL.

The intensified administration of chemotherapeutic drugs has gradually replaced cranial radiation therapy (CRT) for the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). While CRT is often implicated in neurocognitive impairment in ALL survivors, there is a paucity of the literature that evaluates the persistence of neurocognitive deficits in long-term survivors of pediatric ALL who were treated with contemporary chemotherapy-only protocols. Results from this systematic review concurred to the probable cognitive-sparing effect of chemotherapy-based protocols over CRT in long-term survivors. However, coupled with multiple intrinsic and extrinsic factors, survivors who received chemotherapy treatment still suffered from apparent cognitive impairment, particularly in the attention and executive function domains. Notably, there is evidence to suggest that the late neurotoxic effect of methotrexate on survivors' neurocognitive performance may be dose-related. This review also recommends future pharmacokinetic, neuroimaging and genetic studies to illuminate the multifactorial nature of this subject matter and discusses the potential value of neurochemical, physiological, inflammatory and genetic markers for the prediction of susceptibility to neurocognitive impairment in long-term survivors of childhood ALL.

Uterine fibroids (also known as leiomyomas) are the most common benign pelvic tumours among women. They may be asymptomatic, or may be associated with pelvic symptoms such as bleeding and pain. Medical treatment of this condition is limited and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues are the most effective agents. Long-term treatment with such agents, however, is restricted due to their adverse effects. The addition of other medications during treatment with GnRH analogues, a strategy known as add-back therapy, may limit these side effects. There is concern, however, that add-back therapy may also limit the efficacy of the GnRH analogues and that it may not be able to completely prevent their adverse effects.

After decades of research, pancreatic cancer is still a devastating disease. The aim of this article was to assess the efficacy and safety of combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine (GEM) and S-1 (GS) therapy compared with GEM alone therapy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer.

In evaluation of the clinical benefit of a new targeted agent in a phase 3 trial enrolling molecularly selected patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), overall survival (OS) as an endpoint seems to be of limited use because of a high level of treatment crossover for ethical reasons. A more efficient and useful indicator for assessing efficacy is needed.