Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Dec 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyEfficacy and safety of lipegfilgrastim compared with placebo in patients with non-small cell lung cancer receiving chemotherapy: post hoc analysis of elderly versus younger patients.
Lipegfilgrastim, a glycoPEGylated recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), reduces neutropenia duration and febrile neutropenia (FN) incidence in patients with cancer receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy. A phase 3 trial of lipegfilgrastim was conducted in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving cisplatin/etoposide (which produces mild-to-moderate myelosuppression). Because patients aged >65 years are at higher risk for FN versus younger patients, this post hoc analysis compared outcomes in elderly (>65 years) versus younger participants in this trial. ⋯ This analysis suggests that in patients with a higher FN risk, such as the elderly patients of this study, lipegfilgrastim reduces not only the duration of severe neutropenia but also the incidence of FN.
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Support Care Cancer · Dec 2016
Transitions in the labor market after cancer: a comparison of self-employed workers and salaried staff.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether the labor market mobility of a population of cancer survivors 2 years after diagnosis differed compared to the French general population by focusing on the differences between self-employed workers and salaried staff. ⋯ French workers surviving cancer face the same difficulties that were observed in the National Cancer Survey of 2004: unemployment and inactivity caused by the diagnosis of cancer. Among cancer survivors, self-employed workers do not seem to be particularly more affected by inactivity than salaried staff. However, unemployment insurance is not compulsory for them, contrary to salaried staff. In this regard, self-employed workers might be a more vulnerable group.
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Support Care Cancer · Dec 2016
Lymphedema self-care in patients with head and neck cancer: a qualitative study.
Lymphedema is a frequent side effect from head and neck cancer and/or its treatment. As a chronic and progressive condition, it requires an individual's long-term involvement in self-care for management of lymphedema. This study aimed to report head and neck cancer patients' perceived lymphedema education, self-care practices, and suggestions related to self-care of head and neck lymphedema. ⋯ Opportunities exist to improve lymphedema self-care in head and neck cancer patients. Healthcare professionals should focus on delivering high quality and targeted information about self-care for management of head and neck lymphedema. Interventional research is warranted to address gaps in long-term self-care of head and neck lymphedema.
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Support Care Cancer · Dec 2016
Classification of painful bone metastases as mild, moderate, or severe using both EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL and EORTC QLQ-BM22.
Previous studies have determined optimal cut points (CPs) for the classification of pain severity as mild, moderate, or severe using only the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) or the BPI in conjunction with a quality of life (QOL) tool. The purpose of our study was to determine the optimal CPs based on correlation with only QOL outcomes. ⋯ Our results suggest that, based on the impact of pain on QOL measures, pain scores should be classified as follows: 1-5 as mild pain, 6 as moderate pain, and 7-10 as severe pain. Optimal CPs vary depending on the type of outcome measurement used.