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“Goal: The desire for shared decision making arises especially for frequently occurring cases of solid cancer. For hematological

cancer conditions, there are no analogous results. This study compares the participation patients’ desires concerning medical decisions dealing with their solid and hematological tumors.

Patients and Methods: The 533 inpatients with solid cancer (age < 65: 61.0%; female: 39.6 %) and 177 patients with hematological cancer (inpatient: 62.1%, outpatient: 37.9%; age < 65: 63.3%; female: 42.4%) were given a questionnaire after admission to a hospital or medical practice. The dependent variable was patient preference for control in decision making for eight different medical areas of decision.

Results: Descriptive results showed that patients with solid cancer had a stronger desire to participate in the decisions in six of a total of eight survey Z-DEVD-FMK fields (p < 0.01). When considering medical and socio-demographic control variables, the multivariate regression shows that the differences between the patient groups remain in all areas (p < 0.01). Further predictor variables are educational background and age (p < 0.05). No influence resulted from the factors of gender, medical or treatment characteristics.

Conclusion: The results show differences between

patients with hematological cancer and patients with solid tumors, and these differences concern the preference to participate in medical decisions. Hemato-oncological patients desire less active participation and prefer a more dominant role of the physician in the various Emricasan areas requiring decisions. Physicians should respect this in the course of the treatment. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.”
“Unfractionated heparin, low-molecular-weight heparins, and sulodexide belong to the family of glycosaminoglycans. Recent studies report on properties other than anticoagulant activities of these medications. They include modulation

of cell growth and proliferation via actions on numerous growth factors affecting the immune system and matrix molecules production and degradation. Long-term peritoneal dialysis remarkable influences peritoneal cavity homeostasis by mechanisms mediated by growth factors. They initiate progression of pathological processes and further account selleck kinase inhibitor for morphological and functional alterations of the peritoneal membrane. The best-recognized pathologies in peritoneal cavity under these conditions encompass inflammation, fibrosis, and vasculopathy, often leading to fatal encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis. Intraperitoneal heparin and its derivatives, by their pleiotropic actions, may influence these crucial processes and improve the peritoneal dialysis technique survival in a complex and so far understudied way. These issues, novel medical approaches, and their likely mechanisms have been reviewed.