Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Apr 2008
Review Practice GuidelineThe management of dyspnea in cancer patients: a systematic review.
The goal of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of four drug classes (opioids, phenothiazines, benzodiazepines, and systemic corticosteroids) for relieving dyspnea experienced by advanced cancer patients. ⋯ Systemic opioids, administered orally or parenterally, can be used to manage dyspnea in cancer patients. Oral promethazine may also be used, as a second-line agent if systemic opioids cannot be used or in addition to systemic opioids. Nebulized morphine, prochlorperazine, and benzodiazepines are not recommended for the treatment of dyspnea, and promethazine must not be used parenterally.
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Support Care Cancer · Apr 2008
Use of chemotherapy at the end of life in a Portuguese oncology center.
Chemotherapy plays a major role in the treatment of cancer. However, it is sometimes thought of as being taken too far, being used in many cases close to death. The purpose of this study is to determine the proximity of chemotherapy use to the patient's death in our hospital. ⋯ It was concluded that in this hospital, chemotherapy is not used as close to death as often as most professionals feel and the literature reports. There are various possible explanations for this discrepancy; one of them may be the influence of health care systems. It would be useful to see what is happening in other countries with different health care systems.
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Support Care Cancer · Apr 2008
The palliative prognostic score and survival in patients with advanced solid tumors receiving chemotherapy.
To evaluate the accuracy of the Palliative Prognostic Score (PaP score) in selecting metastatic gastrointestinal or nonsmall-cell lung cancer patients candidate to palliative chemotherapy. ⋯ The PaP score seems to discriminate patients who could benefit by palliative chemotherapy from those who could better benefit by supportive and palliative approach. However, the data are insufficient to validate the use of the PaP score in patients to be treated with palliative chemotherapy, and further trials should be planned to assess its ability to improve the quality of care in oncology and the appropriateness in the choice of palliative chemotherapy.