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Chinese Cancer Patients (chinese + cancer_patient)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

Traditional Chinese medicine in cancer care: perspectives and experiences of patients and professionals in China

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER CARE, Issue 4 2006
W. XU md, msc
Although traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used in Chinese cancer centres, it is a brand new area for formal scientific evaluation. As the first step of developing a research programme on clinical evaluation of TCM for cancer patients, we conducted a qualitative study to explore the perspectives and experiences of Chinese cancer patients and TCM professionals. Twenty-eight persons participated in two cancer patient focus groups and one professional focus group. Semi-structured interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and translated. Textual transcripts and field notes underwent inductive thematic analysis. We found that patients' decision to use TCM for cancer is a self-help process with a deep cultural grounding, which is related to the traditional Chinese philosophy of life. Participants perceived TCM to be an effective and harmless therapy. They highly valued the fact that TCM is tailored to patients, and believed it was the basis of an optimal and safe treatment. Participants also highlighted the long-term positive effects, the benefit of group interventions and the low cost as important features of TCM. Subjects believed that conducting clinical research would be crucial for the recognition and dissemination of TCM in Western countries. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the knowledge base on the current TCM use for cancer in China, and to provide useful information for developing future clinical research in this area in Western countries. [source]

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MINI-MAC) scale

PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 6 2003
Samuel M.Y. Ho
The psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer scale (Mini-MAC) were examined among 115 Chinese cancer patients in Hong Kong. The five subscales from the original Mini-MAC (Anxious Preoccupation, Helpless,Hopeless, Fighting Spirit, Fatalism, Cognitive Avoidance) had acceptable internal reliabilities (Cronbach's , ranged from 0.65 to 0.88) and construct validities in our sample. Factor analysis suggested three factors: (1) Negative Emotion (,=0.91) contained items of the Anxious Preoccupation and the Helpless,Hopeless subscales of the original Mini-MAC, (2) Positive Attitude (,=0.77) combined the Fighting Spirit and the Fatalism subscales of the original version, and (3) Cognitive Avoidance (,=0.65) which was identical to the Cognitive Avoidance subscale of the original Mini-MAC. Construct validities of the novel factors were shown by their correlations with HADS Anxiety and Depression scores in the predicted directions. It was concluded that both the 5-factor model from the original Mini-MAC and the 3-factor model from the present study were valid in Hong Kong Chinese cancer patients. The results were discussed in terms of the meaning of the original Mini-MAC factors and cultural differences in coping functions between Chinese and UK cancer patients. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Role of UGT1A1*6, UGT1A1*28 and ABCG2 c.421C>A polymorphisms in irinotecan-induced neutropenia in Asian cancer patients

CANCER SCIENCE, Issue 9 2007
Srinivasa Rao Jada
The objectives of the present study were (i) to study the pharmacogenetics of UGT1A1*6, UGT1A1*28 and ABCG2 c.421C>A in three distinct healthy Asian populations (Chinese, Malays and Indians), and (ii) to investigate the polygenic influence of these polymorphic variants in irinotecan-induced neutropenia in Asian cancer patients. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenetic analyses were done after administration of irinotecan as a 90-min intravenous infusion of 375 mg/m2 once every 3 weeks (n = 45). Genotypic,phenotypic correlates showed a non-significant influence of UGT1A1*28 and ABCG2 c.421C>A polymorphisms on the pharmacokinetics of SN-38 (P > 0.05), as well as severity of neutropenia (P > 0.05). Significantly higher exposure levels to SN-38 (P = 0.018), lower relative extent of glucuronidation (REG; P = 0.006) and higher biliary index (BI; P = 0.003) were found in cancer patients homozygous for the UGT1A1*6 allele compared with patients harboring the reference genotype. The mean absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was 85% lower and the prevalence of grade 4 neutropenia (ANC , 500/µL) was 27% in patients homozygous for UGT1A1*6 compared with the reference group. Furthermore, the presence of the UGT1A1*6 allele was associated with an approximately 3-fold increased risk of developing severe grade 4 neutropenia compared with patients harboring the reference genotype. These exploratory findings suggest that homozygosity for UGT1A1*6 allele may be associated with altered SN-38 disposition and may increase the risk of severe neutropenia in Asian cancer patients, particularly in the Chinese cancer patients who comprised 80% (n = 36) of the patient population in the present study. (Cancer Sci 2007; 98: 1461,1467) [source]