Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2015
Does routine symptom screening with ESAS decrease ED visits in breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy?
In 2007, the provincial cancer agency in Ontario, Canada initiated a wide-scale program to screen for symptoms in the cancer population using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of screening with ESAS on emergency department (ED) visit rates in women with breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. ⋯ Our results demonstrate that screening with ESAS is associated with decreased ED visits. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the effectiveness of routinely documenting a patient reported outcome on ED visits, in a real-world setting.
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2015
Historical ArticleVariations in intensity of end-of-life cancer therapy by cancer type at a Canadian tertiary cancer centre between 2003 and 2010.
Aggressive medical management of cancer patients at the end of life (EOL) is an indicator of health services quality. We evaluated the variations in EOL cancer therapy utilization and in acute care hospital deaths across different types of cancer within the setting of a regionalized cancer program. ⋯ In our regional cancer program, the intensity of cancer therapies near the end of life varied considerably across different cancer types. Such variations may be unwarranted. A substantial proportion of cancer deaths occurred in the acute care setting. Greater efforts to integrate palliative care in outpatient cancer services are needed.
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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.