Dietary Supplements in Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: A New Hope?

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is one of the main and most prevalent side effects of chemotherapy, significantly affecting the quality of life of patients and the course of chemotherapeutic treatment. Nevertheless, despite its prevalence, the management of the CIPN is considered particularly challenging, with this condition often being perceived as very difficult or even impossible to prevent with currently available agents. Therefore, it is imperative to find better options for patients diagnosed with this condition. While the search for the new agents must continue, another opportunity should be taken into consideration—repurposing of the already known medications. As proposed, acetyl-L-carnitine, vitamins (group B and E), extracts of medical plants, including goshajinkigan, curcumin and others, unsaturated fatty acids, as well as the diet composed of so-called “sirtuin-activating foods”, could change the typical way of treatment of CIPN, improve the quality of life of patients and maintain the continuity of chemotherapy. This review summarizes currently available data regarding mentioned above agents and evaluates the rationale behind future research focused on their efficacy in CIPN

Management of hepatocellular carcinoma with novel immunotherapeutic agents and prospects for the future

The most frequent type of primary liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although HCC is not the most frequent cancer, it is characterized by high mortality – the 5-year survival rate is 6,9%. In recent decades there was only one molecule available in treatment (sorafenib). However, in the past few years there have been advances in treatment. Nowadays, new generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors, check point inhibitors and anti-angiogenesis drugs are available. All those studies were analyzed outcome in context of monotherapy or combined therapies. In this review we made an attempt to com­pare results from different studies. Even though, many studies are undergoing final stages of clinical trials, it seems that combined therapies should be the next step in treatment advances

Management of hepatocellular carcinoma with novel immunotherapeutic agents and prospects for the future

The most frequent type of primary liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although HCC is not the most frequent cancer, it is characterized by high mortality – the 5-year survival rate is 6,9%. In recent decades there was only one molecule available in treatment (sorafenib). However, in the past few years there have been advances in treatment. Nowadays, new generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors, check point inhibitors and anti-angiogenesis drugs are available. All those studies were analyzed outcome in context of monotherapy or combined therapies. In this review we made an attempt to com­pare results from different studies. Even though, many studies are undergoing final stages of clinical trials, it seems that combined therapies should be the next step in treatment advances

Assessment of Perceived Attractiveness, Usability, and Societal Impact of a Multimodal Robotic Assistant for Aging Patients With Memory Impairments

The aim of the present study is to present the results of the assessment of clinical application of the robotic assistant for patients suffering from mild cognitive impairments (MCI) and Alzheimer Disease (AD). The human-robot interaction (HRI) evaluation approach taken within the study is a novelty in the field of social robotics. The proposed assessment of the robotic functionalities are based on end-user perception of attractiveness, usability and potential societal impact of the device. The methods of evaluation applied consist of User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ), AttrakDiff and the societal impact inventory tailored for the project purposes. The prototype version of the Robotic Assistant for MCI patients at Home (RAMCIP) was tested in a semi-controlled environment at the Department of Neurology (Lublin, Poland). Eighteen elderly participants, 10 healthy and 8 MCI, performed everyday tasks and functions facilitated by RAMCIP. The tasks consisted of semi-structuralized scenarios like: medication intake, hazardous events prevention, and social interaction. No differences between the groups of subjects were observed in terms of perceived attractiveness, usability nor-societal impact of the device. The robotic assistant societal impact and attractiveness were highly assessed. The usability of the device was reported as neutral due to the short time of interaction

Challenges for Service Robots—Requirements of Elderly Adults with Cognitive Impairments

ObjectiveWe focused on identifying the requirements and needs of people suffering from Alzheimer disease and early dementia stages with relation to robotic assistants.MethodsBased on focus groups performed in two centers (Poland and Spain), we created surveys for medical staff, patients, and caregivers, including: functional requirements; human–robot interaction, the design of the robotic assistant and user acceptance aspects. Using Likert scale and analysis made on the basis of the frequency of survey responses, we identified users’ needs as high, medium, and low priority.ResultsWe gathered 264 completed surveys (100 from medical staff, 81 from caregivers, and 83 from potential users). Most of the respondents, almost at the same level in each of the three groups, accept robotic assistants and their support in everyday life. High level priority functional requirements were related to reacting in emergency situations (calling for help, detecting/removing obstacles) and to reminding about medication intake, about boiling water, turning off the gas and lights (almost 60% of answers). With reference to human–robot interaction, high priority was given to voice operated system and the capability of robotic assistants to reply to simple questions.ConclusionOur results help in achieving better understanding of the needs of patients with cognitive impairments during home tasks in everyday life. This way of conducting the research, with considerations for the interests of three stakeholder groups in two autonomic centers with proven experience regarding the needs of our patient groups, highlights the importance of obtained results