Knowledge and attitudes regarding medical research studies among patients with breast cancer and gynecological diseases

Abstract

BackgroundMedical research studies are becoming increasingly important for optimizing the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illnesses. Participation in research studies can have many benefits for patients. In randomized and controlled clinical studies, they can receive the best possible medical care currently available. However, only a small proportion of patients nowadays are treated within the framework of medical research. The primary endpoint of this study was to discover what level of knowledge patients have about clinical studies and how they currently perceive them, in order to identify ways of optimizing the information provided about studies from the patients’ point of view.MethodsThe study included 2546 patients (breast cancer 21.6 %, gynecological cancer 8.3 %, obstetrics 32.7 %, endometriosis 7.8 %, fertility treatment 3.2 %, other benign gynecological illnesses 19.2 %, no information for 7.2 %) in the outpatient clinic (45.2 %) and in the in-patient sector (54.8 %) at the Department of Gynecology at Erlangen University Hospital and associated centers. In the single-center study, conducted between January 2011 and January 2012, the patients were asked about their level of knowledge regarding the background to medical research studies and the ways in which they are carried out and used. The patients were also asked how they perceived medical studies and how they thought study conditions might be optimized. The three-page questionnaire was included in the feedback sheet received by patients as part of the hospital’s quality management system.ResultsAs a whole, the group only had moderate knowledge about clinical studies. A majority of the respondents considered that studies were valuable (91.6 %), but only a few were also willing to take part in them (58.4 %). Knowledge and willingness to participate strongly depended on age (P < 0.001), educational level (P < 0.001) and patient group (P < 0.001). Most patients would prefer to decide about participating in studies through a discussion with their outpatient physicians.ConclusionsThe information that patients have about clinical studies affects whether they participate in them. It is therefore extremely important for patients to be well informed, for their anxieties about participation to be relieved, and for the benefits of participation to be explained to them.

Human mast cells promote colon cancer growth via bidirectional crosstalk: studies in 2D and 3D coculture models

“…These findings are consistent with clinical observations, where high infiltration of MC has been observed in human colon cancer. 10–13,15–17 MC migration toward Caco2 was observed solely SCF-dependent. SCF is an important growth factor for MC, but also induces chemotaxis and survival.…”

“…7 MC density in CRC tissues is positively associated with poor clinical outcomes in patients 10–13,15,17 and decreased intestinal tumor growth has been observed in MC-deficient mice. 28,29 Our study further provides experimental evidence that primary human MC promote colon cancer growth by stimulating production of pro-tumorigenic mediators in a bidirectional manner.…”

“…Particularly, there are discrepancies regarding the relationship between MC density and tumor progression and clinical outcomes in patients with CRC. 7 Some studies suggested MC number is positively associated with a poor prognosis for CRC, 10–13,15,17 while other studies had contrasting findings. 14,16 This suggests that simply assessing MC number does not provide insight into MC contribution in CRC progression.…”

<p>Silencing stomatin-like protein 2 attenuates tumor progression and inflammatory response through repressing CD14 in liver cancer</p>

“…19 Studies found that stomatin and its family members participate in the occurrence of malignant tumors, and that SLP-2 is overexpressed in choriocarcinoma placental cells, ovarian cancer, and cervical cancer; however, research on SLP-2 in liver cancer is rarely conducted. [20][21][22] We found for the first time that inhibiting the expression of SLP-2 gene in liver cancer cells could inhibit NF-kB, reduce the inflammatory response, and downregulate the expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 and therefore inhibit the migration and invasion of liver cancer cells. 23 The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of SLP-2 on liver cancer cells, and the data showed that the expression level of SLP-2 gene in liver cancer cells was higher than that in human normal liver cells, suggesting that SLP-2 is possibly involved in the growth of hepatoma cells.…”

<p>Radiotherapy for patients with completely resected pathologic IIIA(N2) non–small-cell lung cancer: a retrospective analysis</p>

“…The inclusion criteria for the postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy group (PORCT) groups and the postoperative chemotherapy group (POCT) groups were the same, as follows: complete surgical resection through either lobectomy or pneumonectomy; systematic nodal dissection, a minimum of three N2 stations sampled or complete dissection (one of which must be the subcarinal station); and histologically proven NSCLC of stage pT1-3N2M0 (according to the TNM classification in the UICC 7th ed). 13,14 Patients who received neoadjuvant therapy (chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy), showed evidence of metastatic disease or presented with previous malignancy were excluded. Patients with EGFR mutations receiving tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment after surgery were also excluded.…”