Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2015
Symptom clusters of gastrointestinal cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy using the Functional Living Index-Emesis (FLIE) quality-of-life tool.
The Functional Living Index-Emesis (FLIE) instrument is a validated nausea and vomiting specific quality of life (QOL) tool originally created as a 3-day test of the impact of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting on cancer patients' daily life. The primary objective of the present study was to retrospectively explore the use of the FLIE from data obtained in a previously published study of patients with gastrointestinal radiation-induced nausea and vomiting (RINV) and compare the extracted symptom clusters on a weekly basis for the entirety of gastrointestinal cancer patients' radiotherapy treatments. ⋯ The high internal consistency at all timepoints indicates that the FLIE QOL instrument is useful for the RINV population.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2015
Cancer treatment-related neuropathic pain: proof of concept study with menthol--a TRPM8 agonist.
Effective treatment of neuropathic pain without unacceptable side effects is challenging. Cancer sufferers increasingly live with long-term treatment-related neuropathic pain, resulting from chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) or surgical scars. This proof-of-concept study aimed to determine whether preclinical evidence for TRPM8 ion channels in sensory neurons as a novel analgesic target could be translated to clinical benefit in patients with neuropathic pain, using the TRPM8 activator menthol. ⋯ This proof-of-concept study indicates that topical menthol has potential as a novel analgesic therapy for cancer treatment-related neuropathic pain. Improvements in patient-rated measures are supported by changes in objective measures of physical function and sensation. Further systematic evaluation of efficacy is required.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2015
Perceived timeliness of referral to hospice palliative care among bereaved family members in Korea.
We aimed to explore the perceived timeliness of referral to hospice palliative care unit (HPCU) among bereaved family members in Korea and factors associated therewith. ⋯ To promote timely HPCU utilization and better quality of end of life care, patients need to be informed of the terminal status and their preference should be respected.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2015
Multicenter StudyRoutine prescribing of gabapentin or pregabalin in supportive and palliative care: what are the comparative performances of the medications in a palliative care population?
Neuropathic pain is a prevalent and distressing problem faced by people with life-limiting illness that is often difficult to palliate. Gabapentin and pregabalin are widely prescribed as part of the routine approach to palliating neuropathic pain. Although they are often viewed as interchangeable agents, very little comparative data of their benefits and harms exists in clinical practice. ⋯ The final pain scores were similar for both groups, and the reduction in pain were similar (OR = 11.2; 95 % CI 3.9, 32.7, p < 0.001). However, this was achieved at lower doses of gabapentin compared to pregabalin. Those receiving gabapentin were more likely to experience harms (OR = 3.5; 95 % CI 1.4, 9.1, p = 0.009) with the reported harms including somnolence, ataxia, nausea, tremor and nystagmus This hypothesis-generating work strongly supports the need for further trials to best delineate clinical differences in the GABA analogues.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2015
Whose role? Oncology practitioners' perceptions of their role in providing spiritual care to advanced cancer patients.
The purpose of this study is to determine how oncology nurses and physicians view their role in providing spiritual care (SC), factors influencing this perception, and how this belief affects SC provision. ⋯ Nurses are more likely than physicians to perceive medical practitioners as having a role in SC provision. Physicians' perceptions of their role in SC provision are influenced by their religious/spiritual characteristics and are predictive of actual SC provision to patients. Spiritual care training that includes improved understanding of clinicians' appropriate role in SC provision to severely ill patients may lead to increased SC provision.