Dichotomy of Nitric Oxide in Cancer Biology and its Therapeutic Implications

The role of Nitric oxide, which is an important signalling molecule, has become an active and controversial area of research in cancer. Nitric oxide has been designated as “Double-edged sword” in Cancer as it has exhibited both pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic effects. Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) levels have been associated with contrasting effects of tumor suppression tumor progression. The discovery of generation of NO in mammalian tissues and its biological role in cancer has thrown light into tumor biology research. Through various studies conducted, it has become clear that concentration and time dependent regulation of Nitric oxide lead to tumor growth, cytostasis and cell death .The regulation of tumor growth by Nitric oxide represents an important new dimension in cancer research and  understanding of mechanisms involved  behind this process at molecular and cellular level is a major area of concern which will open up new avenues in Cancer Research and may help to provide new and better therapeutic interventions in diagnosis, treatment and cure of Cancer

Knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance towards adverse drug reactions reporting among health care professionals (nurses) in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Eastern India: an observational study

Background: Nursing staffs spend most time in patient care and are bedside caregivers. To expect voluntary reporting of adverse reactions, it is essential that they possess proper knowledge, right attitude and practice reporting. Therefore, the present study was aimed to assess the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Pharmacovigilance towards ADRs reporting.Methods: A prospective, cross sectional, observational, questionnaire-based survey was conducted among nurses in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Eastern India. Questionnaire containing 15 questions was used to assess knowledge, attitude and practice. The questionnaire was administered to 150 nurses. Analysis of data was done using statistical software..Results: The response rate in our study was 86.67%. Nurses have good knowledge of pharmacovigilance and adverse reaction. However, only 10% have reported an adverse reaction in our study. This shows that in spite of having a good knowledge of reporting, nurses have poor attitude, which is reflected by a low reporting rate. Nurses opined that taking patient care is of prime importance than report an adverse reaction. This corroborates the low reporting rate in our set up.Conclusions: Majority of nurses have good knowledge on pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction. The concern remains on the low reporting rate. Continuous training programmes, and reminders likely to enhance the voluntary reporting from the nursing staffs