Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · May 2016
Characteristics and outcomes of patients with advanced cancer evaluated by a palliative care team at an emergency center. A retrospective study.
Patients with advanced cancer may be referred for a palliative care consultation (PC) from a hospital emergency center (EC) or as inpatients. However, research about symptoms and outcomes in patients with advanced cancer who receive PC at the EC is limited. ⋯ Referral to PC from the EC led to earlier delivery of PC with subsequent earlier control of symptoms. EC patients who received PC consultations and were hospitalized had shorter hospitalizations than PC referral in the inpatient area. More research is needed to describe the impact of PC services on symptom assessment and management and on goals and plan of care in patients with advanced illness admitted to the EC.
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Support Care Cancer · May 2016
Do-not-resuscitate orders and related factors among family surrogates of patients in the emergency department.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders and to identify relevant factors influencing the DNR decision-making process by patients' surrogates in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ The findings of this study indicated that surrogates of patients who were more severe in disease condition, whose physicians initiated the discussion of palliative care, and who stayed longer in hospital were important factors affecting the surrogates' DNR decision-making. Therefore, early initiation of DNR discussions is suggested to improve end-of-life care.
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Support Care Cancer · Apr 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyA randomized, multicenter, phase II/III study to determine the optimal dose and to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pegteograstim (GCPGC) on chemotherapy-induced neutropenia compared to pegfilgrastim in breast cancer patients: KCSG PC10-09.
Pegylated granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is frequently used to prevent febrile neutropenia (FN) in patients undergoing chemotherapy with a high risk of myelosuppression. This phase II/III study was conducted to determine the adequate dose of pegteograstim, a new formulation of pegylated G-CSF, and to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pegteograstim compared to pegfilgrastim. ⋯ Pegteograstim was shown to be as effective as pegfilgrastim in the reduction of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia in the breast cancer patients who were undergoing chemotherapy with a high risk of myelosuppression.
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Support Care Cancer · Apr 2016
Do-not-resuscitate orders among advanced-stage Chinese lung cancer patients who died in hospital.
Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders are an important part of end-of-life care (EOL) for patients with incurable advanced lung cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical factors related to the acceptance of DNR orders by Chinese patients. ⋯ The DNR order-signing rate has been increasing annually among terminal patients with lung cancer in China. DNR orders, all of which were signed by surrogates, were more likely to be accepted by patients with slowly deteriorating disease and longer OS. More effort should be taken to help patients and medical professionals establish a sensible understanding of EOL care, including DNR orders, at earlier points during the disease course.
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Support Care Cancer · Apr 2016
Revisiting classification of pain from bone metastases as mild, moderate, or severe based on correlation with function and quality of life.
The objective of our study was to determine the optimal cut points for classification of pain scores as mild, moderate, and severe based on interference with function and quality of life (QOL). ⋯ Our analysis supports the classification of pain scores as follows: 1-4 as mild pain, 5-8 as moderate pain, and 9-10 as severe pain. This may facilitate conduct of future clinical trials.