Effects of auricular acupressure on chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in breast cancer patients: a preliminary randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Auricular acupressure (AA) has been viewed as a promising approach to managing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) but relevant research evidence has been inconclusive. This study aimed to examine the effects of AA on CINV in breast cancer (BC) patients undergoing chemotherapy. METHODS: A preliminary randomized controlled trial was conducted in 114 BC patients. Participants were randomly allocated to a true AA group (n = 38), a sham AA group (n = 38), and a standard care group (n = 38). All the participants were provided with standard antiemetic treatment and care, while the true AA group and the sham AA group received an additional 5-day true AA and a 5-day sham AA, respectively. Acute and delayed CINV were assessed by using the MASCC Antiemesis Tool (MAT), anticipatory nausea and vomiting were measured by the Index of Nausea, Vomiting, and Retching (INVR), and patients' quality of life (QoL) was evaluated by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B). RESULTS: Both the true and sham AA groups reported improved CINV outcomes than the standard care group, with the true AA demonstrating larger effects than the sham comparison. The true and sham AA groups had higher complete response (CR) rates of CINV when compared with the standard care group, with the difference in the CR of acute CINV achieving statistical significance (p = 0.03). Both the true and sham AA groups demonstrated lower incidence and severity of acute CINV compared with the standard care group with the among-group difference reaching statistical significance for the occurrence (p = 0.04) and severity (p = 0.001) of acute nausea. No significant differences in anticipatory CINV and QoL were found among the groups. CONCLUSION: The use of AA plus standard antiemetic treatment and care was superior to the use of standard antiemetic treatment and care alone in managing CINV among BC patients receiving chemotherapy. The antiemetic effects of AA were identified to be more profound in improving acute CINV, particularly acute nausea. The antiemetic effects of AA were deemed to be a mixture of specific treatment effects and placebo effects, and the placebo effects were very large and even reached clinical significance. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT02403037 ; Registered March 31, 2015.

Primary intratracheal schwannoma misdiagnosed as severe asthma in an adolescent: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Primary intratracheal schwannoma is an extremely rare type of benign airway tumor, especially in adolescents. The presenting symptoms are typically prolonged cough and wheezing that can be misdiagnosed as asthma in adolescent patients. CASE: A 16-year-old adolescent girl admitted to a local hospital with symptoms of an irritating cough and wheezing was diagnosed with bronchial asthma and treated with budesonide and formoterol. Over the next year, the patient's wheezing and coughing symptoms gradually worsened and the antiasthma treatment was ineffective. One week prior to this admission, the patient developed dyspnea after catching a cold and was transferred to our hospital with a diagnosis of severe asthma. However, chest computed tomography and bronchoscopy showed a mass in the trachea. Primary intratracheal schwannoma was diagnosed by biopsy. Her symptoms were relieved by endoscopic resection by electrosurgical snaring combined with argon plasma coagulation. No relapse occurred during an 18 mo follow-up. CONCLUSION: Primary intratracheal schwannoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis in adolescents with recurrent asthma-like attacks.

[Research Advances in the Diagnostic Value of Rapid On-site Evaluation in Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration for Lung Cancer].

Rapid on-site evaluation(ROSE),an auxiliary sampling quality evaluation technology,can be used to evaluate the adequacy and diagnostic category of samples,judge the histological type of lung cancer,and optimize the gene type of lung cancer.Applying ROSE to endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration of suspected lung cancer can improve the puncture success rate and diagnostic rate and reduce complications and puncture attempts.Rose performed via remote cytopathology technology or by trained respiratory specialists may become the future trends.