Clinical implication of adjuvant chemotherapy according to mismatch repair status in patients with intermediate-risk stage II colon cancer

A pilot retrospective study of comprehensive nursing care on psychological disorder in colorectal cancer undergoing chemotherapy

BACKGROUND

This pilot study retrospectively evaluated the effects of comprehensive nursing care (CNC) on psychological disorders in patients with colorectal cancer (CC) undergoing chemotherapy.

METHODS

This study analyzed 70 eligible patients' case records of CC undergoing chemotherapy. These records were allocated to a treatment group (n = 35) or a control group (n = 35). All 70 patients in both groups received routine nursing care. In addition, 35 patients in the treatment group also received CNC. The primary outcomes were anxiety, as measured by Self-rating Anxiety Scale, and depression, as assessed by Self-rating Depression Scale. The secondary outcomes were quality of life, as measured by The 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, and adverse events. All outcome data were analyzed before and 3-month after treatment.

RESULTS

At 3-month after treatment, the patients in the treatment group had better outcomes in the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (P<0.01), Self-rating Depression Scale (P<0.01), and The 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (social function, P = .04; emotional role, P = 0.03) than those in the control group. With regard to safety, no treatment-related adverse events were recorded in either group.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this pilot retrospective study showed promising effects of CNC on psychological disorders and quality of life in patients with CC undergoing chemotherapy. However, more high-quality clinical trials are required to confirm these findings.

Behavioral and Neuroanatomical Consequences of Cell-Type Specific Loss of Dopamine D2 Receptors in the Mouse Cerebral Cortex

Developmental dysregulation of dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs) alters neuronal migration, differentiation, and behavior and contributes to the psychopathology of neurological and psychiatric disorders. The current study is aimed at identifying how cell-specific loss of D2Rs in the cerebral cortex may impact neurobehavioral and cellular development, in order to better understand the roles of this receptor in cortical circuit formation and brain disorders. We deleted D2R from developing cortical GABAergic interneurons (Nkx2.1-Cre) or from developing telencephalic glutamatergic neurons (Emx1-Cre). Conditional knockouts (cKO) from both lines, Drd2^fl/fl, Nkx2.1-Cre⁺ (referred to as GABA-D2R-cKO mice) or Drd2^fl/fl, Emx1-Cre⁺ (referred to as Glu-D2R-cKO mice), exhibited no differences in simple tests of anxiety-related or depression-related behaviors, or spatial or nonspatial working memory. Both GABA-D2R-cKO and Glu-D2R-cKO mice also had normal basal locomotor activity, but GABA-D2R-cKO mice expressed blunted locomotor responses to the psychotomimetic drug MK-801. GABA-D2R-cKO mice exhibited improved motor coordination on a rotarod whereas Glu-D2R-cKO mice were normal. GABA-D2R-cKO mice also exhibited spatial learning deficits without changes in reversal learning on a Barnes maze. At the cellular level, we observed an increase in PV+ cells in the frontal cortex of GABA-D2R-cKO mice and no noticeable changes in Glu-D2R-cKO mice. These data point toward unique and distinct roles for D2Rs within excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the regulation of behavior and interneuron development, and suggest that location-biased D2R pharmacology may be clinically advantageous to achieve higher efficacy and help avoid unwanted effects.