ABSTRACT
Introduction: Management of pediatric cancer patients involves invasive procedures such as punctures, injections, catheter placements, and chemotherapy which can generate fatigue, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, and pain. Virtual Reality (VR) is a nonpharmacological intervention classified as a cognitive-behavioral method to relieve symptoms. Methods: We designed a crossover protocol and included 20 patients between 9 and 12 years old; ten were male. All patients had acute lymphoblastic leukemia diagnosis and were treatedwith St. Jude's XV protocol in the maintenance phase. Pain and anxiety were measured with validated scales in the pediatric population. Results: Although we used a small group of patients, we found statistical difference in the reduction of anxiety and perception of time. Discussion: These results open a window to non-pharmacological treatments and show a strategy to improve quality of life in children inside the hospital.
ABSTRACT
Resumen Actualmente, el cáncer pulmonar es un problema de salud importante a nivel mundial porque presenta una alta incidencia y mortalidad tanto en hombres como en mujeres. Su forma más común es el adenocarcinoma (ADC), que es una entidad patológica interesante ya que de todas las formas de cáncer pulmonar, es la que se asocia menos con el tabaquismo y un porcentaje importante de pacientes con adenocarcinoma son no fumadores. De modo que otros factores como la exposición al humo de leña, a los contaminantes del aire, la historia familiar de cáncer, entre otros, son importantes para el desarrollo del ADC pulmonar. Actualmente el ADC pulmonar es la principal forma de cáncer pulmonar en las mujeres y se ha reportado que las mujeres premenopáusicas presentan peor pronóstico y los tumores son más agresivos cuando se comparan con los hombres y las mujeres posmenopáusicas. Estos datos han sugerido el papel de los estrógenos en el cáncer pulmonar, principalmente en el ADC. Aunque existe vasta evidencia epidemiológica que demuestra esta relación, hay controversia en cuanto al papel de los estrógenos en esta patología. De igual manera no hay una opinión generalizada sobre los mecanismos por los cuales los estrógenos podrían favorecer la carcinogénesis. Sin embargo, cada vez es más clara la importancia de éstas hormonas en la carcinogénesis pulmonar. En esta revisión se muestran estos datos y se discute la relevancia de los estrógenos en el cáncer pulmonar, una patología cuya dependencia hormonal es cada vez más clara.
Abstract Lung cancer is currently a worldwide health issue because of the mortality and high incidence of this pathology in both men and women. The most common form of lung cancer is adenocarcinoma (ADC); It is an interesting disease entity because among every type of lung cancer it has the lower association with smoking and a significant percentage of patients with adenocarcinoma are not smokers. Hence other factors such as exposure to wood-smoke, air pollutants, family history of cancer, among others, are important in the development of lung ADC. Nowadays, lung ADC is the main form of lung cancer in women and reports show that premenopausal women have the worse prognosis and have more aggressive tumors compared to men and postmenopausal women. These data suggests that estrogens have a particular role in lung cancer physiopathology mainly in ADC. Although there is sufficient epidemiological evidence that indicates a relationship between sexual hormones and lung cancer, the role of estrogens in this pathology is still controversial. Furthermore there is no general consent regarding the known mechanisms by which these hormones could promote carcinogenesis and because the scarce information about the implication of these hormones in lung carcinogenesis more studies are needed. In this review we discuss the role and relevance of estrogens in lung cancer, a pathology whose hormonal dependency is becoming clearer.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Studies have reported differences in lung cancer behavior between sex and hormonal status that suggest a role of estrogens and estrogen receptor beta (ERß) in lung carcinogenesis. In some types of hormone-dependent cancer, estrogens may regulate CXCL12/CXCR4 expression through ERß signaling. High expression of CXCL12/CXCR4 is associated with poor prognosis in lung cancer because it promotes tumor growth and metastasis. Therefore, in this study we investigated whether lung adenocarcinoma tissues from pre- and postmenopausal women and from men exhibit different ERß, CXCR4/CXCL12 expression and whether this expression is associated with clinicopathological features. METHODS: Sixty primary tumor samples of lung adenocarcinoma from pre- and postmenopausal women and from men were collected for this study. Thirty samples of healthy lung tissue adjacent to the tumor site were used as controls. ERß and CXCL12/CXCR4 expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Expression of these proteins was measured by digital image software and compared between sex and hormonal status. RESULTS: Lung adenocarcinomas overexpressed ERß, CXCR4 and CXCL12 compared to normal lung. Moreover, lung adenocarcinomas from premenopausal women exhibited higher signals for ERß, CXCL12 and CXCR4 compared to postmenopausal women and to men, who showed lower signals for these proteins. A multivariate analysis revealed a strong association between the immunoreactivity level of ERß, CXCL12/CXCR4 and both sex and hormonal status, but not with tumor stage and smoking. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that ERß and CXCL12/CXCR4 expression in lung adenocarcinoma depends on sex and hormonal status, which may partly explain the sex and hormonal differences in lung cancer behavior.
