Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
-
Support Care Cancer · Mar 2016
Review Case ReportsChemotherapy at end-of-life: an integration of oncology and palliative team.
Palliative chemotherapy is increasingly used in cancer patients near end of life. With the development of newer anticancer agents which have less side effects and higher expected efficacy, the decision on palliative chemotherapy in patients near end of life is complex. This article illustrates how oncologist and palliative care physicians can work together effectively. This article also gives an overview about the risks of palliative chemotherapy near end of life, patients' and physicians' perspectives in choosing the aggressive treatment and describes what an oncologist should do when facing this challenging situation.
-
Support Care Cancer · Mar 2016
Validation of the Chinese version of EORTC QLQ-BM22 in patients with bone metastases.
Our aim is to test the validity, reliability, and acceptability of the Chinese version of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Bone Metastases 22 (EORTC QLQ-BM22) module to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with bone metastases in China. ⋯ The Chinese version of EORTC QLQ-BM22 is a reliable and valid instrument, which is appropriate for measuring the HRQOL of patients with bone metastases in China.
-
Support Care Cancer · Mar 2016
ReviewInterventional options for the management of refractory cancer pain-what is the evidence?
Pain is the most common symptom in cancer patients. Standard pain treatment according to the WHO three-step analgesic ladder provides effective pain management in approximately 70-90% of cancer patients. Refractory pain is defined as not responding to "standard" treatments. Interventional analgesic techniques can be used in an attempt to control refractory pain in patients in whom conventional analgesic strategies fail to provide effective pain relief or are intolerable due to severe adverse effects. This systematic review aims to provide the latest evidence on interventional refractory pain management in cancer patients. ⋯ Overall, very few RCTs have been conducted on interventional pain techniques. In reality, it is very difficult to undertake large controlled trials for a number of reasons. Therefore, today's best evidence for practice may be from large case series of comparable patients with careful response and toxicity evaluation and follow-up.
-
Support Care Cancer · Mar 2016
Multicenter StudyPresentation patterns and outcomes of patients with cancer accessing care in emergency departments in Victoria, Australia.
People with cancer attend emergency departments (EDs) for many reasons. Improved understanding of the specific needs of these patients may assist in optimizing health service delivery. ED presentation and hospital utilization characteristics were explored for people with cancer and compared with those patients without cancer. ⋯ ED presentations by people with cancer represent a more urgent, complex caseload frequently requiring hospital admission when compared to other presentations, suggesting that for optimal cancer care, close collaboration and integration of oncology, palliative care and emergency medicine providers are needed to improve pathways of care.
-
Support Care Cancer · Mar 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialMC11C4: a pilot randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of venlafaxine to prevent oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy.
Previous pilot data suggested that venlafaxine could prevent acute and chronic oxaliplatin-related neuropathy. The purpose of this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded pilot study was to obtain additional data to support conducting a phase III trial to test the use of venlafaxine to prevent oxaliplatin neurotoxicity. ⋯ The present study neither supports the use of venlafaxine for preventing oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy in clinical practice nor the initiation of a phase III trial to investigate venlafaxine in this setting.