Despite tremendous gains in the molecular understanding of exocrine pancreatic cancer, the prognosis for this disease remains very poor, largely because of delayed disease detection and limited effectiveness of systemic therapies. Both incidence rates and mortality rates for pancreatic cancer have increased during the past decade, in contrast to most other solid tumor types. Recent improvements in multimodality care have substantially improved overall survival, local control, and metastasis-free survival for patients who have localized tumors that are amenable to surgical resection. The widening gap in prognosis between patients with resectable and unresectable or metastatic disease reinforces the importance of detecting pancreatic cancer sooner to improve outcomes. Furthermore, the developing use of therapies that target tumor-specific molecular vulnerabilities may offer improved disease control for patients with advanced disease. Finally, the substantial morbidity associated with pancreatic cancer, including wasting, fatigue, and pain, remains an under-addressed component of this disease, which powerfully affects quality of life and limits tolerance to aggressive therapies. In this article, the authors review the current multidisciplinary standards of care in pancreatic cancer with a focus on emerging concepts in pancreatic cancer detection, precision therapy, and survivorship.

Medication changes are common during transfer between hospital and nursing home and are a cause of ADEs. Research is needed on interinstitutional patient care and systems interventions designed to prevent ADEs.

A weight-based dose at 1.5 mL/kg of low osmolality contrast medium can provide acceptable scans in most patients, with a significant cost savings.

To determine the frequency of and risk factors for adverse reactions to high-osmolality contrast media, the authors prospectively studied hospitalized patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. The authors also studied patients undergoing peripheral angiography and contrast material-enhanced computed tomography (CT) of the head or body who met at least one of the following criteria thought to increase the risk of adverse reactions: age of more than 60 years, diabetes, renal or liver disease, concurrent nephrotoxic drug use, or a history of allergic reactions (n = 795). Criteria were defined and used to group adverse reactions into three classes of clinical severity. Overall, class I (mild), class II (moderate), and class III (severe) reactions occurred in 362 (45%), 44 (5.5%), and three (0.4%) patients, respectively. Class II reactions were relatively common (25%) in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization yet were uncommon (2%) in patients undergoing the other three procedures. Nephrotoxicity occurred in 18 of 651 patients who had follow-up creatinine levels obtained at 48-72 hours. With multivariate regression analysis, the only risk factor (P less than .05) for combined class II and III reactions was diabetes. Diabetes, furosemide use, and a history of atopy (odds ratio = 2.8) were associated with nephrotoxicity (P less than .05). Underlying renal insufficiency was not a risk factor for nephrotoxicity.

No abstract