ETD Collection

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Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.Cancer--Chemotherapy

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    An investigation into pain in cancer patients
    (2020) Robinson, Rowan Paula
    Introduction: Nurses play an important role in cancer treatment delivery, patient information and symptom management, as well as psychological and supportive care. As nurses spend the greatest portion of time caring for patients, they are ideally placed to routinely assess the patient’s pain and response to treatment. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to provide baseline data that could be used to develop a patient informed pain assessment instrument used by nurses practicing in cancer care settings for South African cancer patients. Objectives: The first objective of the study was to explore which pain assessment instruments are available to assess cancer pain, their characteristics and comparison against the criteria of an ideal instrument. The second objective was to describe how cancer patients experience and describe their pain and what they consider essential for nurses to know about their pain. Methods: A sequential multi-method study was conducted in two parts: a scoping review and in-depth interviews were used to gather data. Findings: None of the nineteen identified instruments met the criteria of an ideal pain assessment instrument, and even the ideal criteria as provided by the African Palliative Care Association (2010) and Farrer (2007), appeared to be incomplete and should be updated. The study provided evidence of the participants’ experience of cancer pain and what brings relief from the pain. They described their need for information and communication as well as support and compassionate care. Finally participants described what nurses need to know about their cancer pain experience. Conclusion: Cancer pain is complex, with physical, emotional and psychosocial factors having a profound influence on the unique and personal experience of cancer pain. The successful management of cancer pain is dependent on thorough assessment, re-assessment, measurement of pain intensity, interpretation of findings and appropriate treatment of the pain including both pharmacological and non-pharmacological options
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    The design and synthesis of novel EGFR inhibitors
    (2019) Carnie, Robyn Elizabeth
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    Evaluating the anti-proliferative effects of methanol and butanol extracts of lobostemon fruticosus on a pancreatic cancer cell line AsPC-1
    (2017) Blose, Malangu Sibusiso
    Cancer has become a problematic fatal disease in developing and industrialised countries with pancreatic cancer as the seventh leading cause of cancer-related deaths, with an average survival rate of less than 5%. Environmental risk factors associated with pancreatic cancer include smoking, obesity, diet, alcohol etc. Furthermore, pancreatic cancer is commonly diagnosed at a late stage where its response to current anti-cancer agents is poor. Consequently, with South Africa being a 3rd world country and the cost of chemotherapy being so high, this has led to us trying to identify new, cheaper therapeutics for cancer cells. A majority (80%) of the South African population relies on traditional medicines, hence in this study we aimed to assess Lobostemon fruticosus for anti-proliferative effects on pancreatic cancer cell line (AsPC-1). This was achieved by the use of methanol and butanol extracts of L. fruticosus to screen for induction of apoptosis and inhibition of cell proliferation. The plant was collected, dried, crushed and dissolved in butanol and methanol to obtain experimental extracts. Cytotoxicity of the plant on Aspc-1 was determined using MTT Assay, xCELLigence and cell cycle analysis. MRC-5 cell line was used as a positive control cell line. L. fruticosus extracts induced cell death at IC50 of 60µg/ml (methanol extract) and 50µg/ml (butanol extract) at 48hour treatments on AsPC-1 cell line. Western Blots showed that the methanol and butanol extracts of L. fruticosus led to slight upregulation of the apoptotic gene p53 in AsPC-1 cell line, which was further confirmed by FACS apoptosis detection. Cell cycle analysis further showed the plant extracts do promote cell cycle arrest. LC/MS of the extracts gave spectra of active compounds presumed to play a role in induction of apoptosis on the pancreatic cancer cell line. The data obtained implies that the methanol and butanol extracts of L. fruticosus does have, to a certain extent, growth inhibiting and apoptosis inducing potential on the pancreatic cancer cell line. KEYWORDS: Lobostemon fruticosus, Pancreatic Cancer, methanol extract, butanol extract, AsPC-1