The Development and Evaluation of an Educational Video for Breast Cancer Patients Requiring Adjuvant Radiation Therapy.

Patient education and informed consent are required prior to adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) for early breast cancer (EBC), and include the role, rationale, potential toxicities and practicalities of the treatment process. Current education of patients about RT is verbal, in the form of a consultation by a radiation oncologist, often supplemented with print or online materials. This approach is limited by its doctor-dependency and non-standardised nature. Video education is being recognised increasingly as an opportunity to remediate this and appeal to patients' preference for visual learning. The purpose of this study was to design and produce a video as an educational adjunct for EBC patients' viewing prior to adjuvant RT, and to evaluate its acceptability through content analysis of three online focus group discussions, among ten participants with EBC requiring RT. After qualitative content analysis of the focus group transcripts, data were summarised into three main categories: (1) understanding of RT, (2) ease of engagement with the video and (3) anxiety and preparedness for RT. The 18-min video was positively received by all participants, and discussion feedback was used to inform improvements to the video. This focus group study demonstrated that the video was well understood, informative and acceptable to EBC patients in preparing them for RT. The effectiveness of the video in improving knowledge and alleviating distress in preparation for therapy will be further evaluated in an ethics-approved biphasic quasi-experimental study.

Demonstration of In Vitro Host-Guest Complex Formation and Safety of para-Sulfonatocalix[8]arene as a Delivery Vehicle for Two Antibiotic Drugs.

The macrocycle para-sulfonatocalix[8]arene, sCX[8], was examined with 2 antibiotic drugs, ciprofloxacin (CIP) and isoniazid. The drugs were shown to form complexes with sCX[8] using proton nuclear magnetic resonance, thermogravimetric analysis, fluorescence spectroscopy, and molecular modeling. Both drugs form 1:1 hydrated (H2O: 13%-14% w/w) host-guest complexes, with sCX[8] binding around the pyridine ring of isoniazid, and around the piperazine and cyclopropane rings of CIP. From proton nuclear magnetic resonance, the binding constant of isoniazid to sCX[8] was 6.8 (±0.3) × 103 M-1. Addition of 2 equivalents of sCX[8] to CIP resulted in a 58% decrease in fluorescence, and time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy of CIP doubles with sCX[8]. Each drug binds into the cavity of the macrocycle, with binding stabilized via combinations of hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interactions, π-π stacking, and hydrophobic effects. The safety of sCX[8] was examined in vitro with human embryonic kidney 293 cells. The IC50 of sCX[8] was 559 µM, which is a minimum of 5-fold higher than the concentration that would be used in the clinic. The in vitro effect of sCX[8] on the action of CIP was examined on a panel of bacterial lines. The results showed that sCX[8] has no inherent antibiotic activity and had no negative effect on the action of CIP.

Correction: The side effects of platinum-based chemotherapy drugs: a review for chemists.

Correction for 'The side effects of platinum-based chemotherapy drugs: a review for chemists' by Rabbab Oun et al., Dalton Trans., 2018, 47, 6645-6653.

The side effects of platinum-based chemotherapy drugs: a review for chemists.

The platinum-based drugs cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin are regularly prescribed in the treatment of cancer and while they are effective, their use is limited by their severe, dose-limiting side effects (also referred to as adverse effects/events). In total, a cancer patient can experience any combination of around 40 specific side effects. The dose-limiting side effect for cisplatin is nephrotoxicity, for carboplatin it is myelosuppression, and for oxaliplatin it is neurotoxicity. Other common side effects include anaphylaxis, cytopenias (including leukopenia and neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and anaemia), hepatotoxicity, ototoxicity, cardiotoxicity, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, mucositis, stomatitis, pain, alopecia, anorexia, cachexia, and asthenia. The side effects may require patients to be prescribed dose reductions in their platinum drugs of between 25 and 100%. Furthermore, patients require extensive monitoring of their biochemistries, kidney and liver function, and depending on the drug, hearing tests. Finally, patients are commonly co-prescribed additional non-chemotherapy based drugs to treat the side effects which can include antiemetics, antibiotics and myeloid growth factors, mannitol, propafenone, saline hyperhydration, magnesium supplements, monoclonal antibody cytokine blockers, and antioxidants.