Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Nov 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyThe use of vitamin E for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: results of a randomized phase III clinical trial.
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) continues to be a substantial problem for many cancer patients. Pursuant to promising appearing pilot data, the current study evaluated the use of vitamin E for the prevention of CIPN. ⋯ Vitamin E did not appear to reduce the incidence of sensory neuropathy in the studied group of patients receiving neurotoxic chemotherapy.
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The aim of this study was to compare the precision of two different methods in detecting clinical depression in tumor patients: the use of a screening questionnaire versus the assessment by health care providers (nurses and doctors). ⋯ The HADS performed well in detecting depressed cancer patients in acute oncological care, whereas physicians and nurses often were unable to recognize depressed patients.
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Support Care Cancer · Nov 2011
Minimal important differences for interpreting health-related quality of life scores from the EORTC QLQ-C30 in lung cancer patients participating in randomized controlled trials.
The aim of this study was to determine the smallest changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores in a subset of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) scales, which could be considered as clinically meaningful in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). ⋯ Based on the selected QLQ-C30 scales, the MID may depend upon whether the patients' PS is improving or worsening, but our results are not definitive. The MID estimates for the specified scales can help clinicians and researchers evaluate the significance of changes in HRQOL and assess the value of a health care intervention or compare treatments. The estimates also can be useful in determining sample sizes in the design of future clinical trials.