Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Jul 2015
Assessing the response to opioids in cancer patients: a methodological proposal and the results.
The efficacy of treatment with opioids in cancer pain is variable. To evaluate this variability, we (1) applied two parameters, changes in pain intensity (PI) and opioid daily doses (DDs), to distinguish different responses to opioids. The need to switch to another opioid was recorded. We then (2) evaluated the distribution of the responses depending on these parameters, alone and taken together, in cancer patients with pain. ⋯ Different degrees of response to opioids were observed, PI and DD changes both contributing. Only over half the patients had a full positive response.
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Palliative care program structure is important to integrating palliative services into cancer care. A first step in understanding the structure of palliative care programs is to survey existing programs. ⋯ This study not only differs in some respects to a previous survey of palliative care programs but also confirms the late referral of patients to palliative care.
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Support Care Cancer · Jun 2015
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyA randomized study of the efficacy and safety of transdermal granisetron in the control of nausea and vomiting induced by moderately emetogenic chemotherapy in Korean patients.
The granisetron transdermal system (GTS) showed non-inferior efficacy to oral granisetron to control chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) during multiday chemotherapy. We compared the efficacy and safety of GTS with that of intravenous and oral granisetron in Korean patients receiving moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (MEC). ⋯ The GTS showed non-inferior efficacy to intravenous and oral granisetron. The safety, tolerability, and FLI-E scores of the GTS were comparable to those of control group. The GTS offers a convenient alternative option for relieving CINV in patients receiving MEC.
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Support Care Cancer · Jun 2015
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyThe effect of resistance inspiratory muscle training in the management of breathlessness in patients with thoracic malignancies: a feasibility randomised trial.
Breathlessness in patients with lung cancer is a common and distressing symptom affecting 50-70 % of patients, rising to some 90 % for those with advanced lung cancer. The aim of the current study was to assess how feasible inspiratory muscle training (IMT) is in the lung cancer population and explore changes in outcome variables. ⋯ This trial shows the IMT is feasible and potentially effective in patients with lung cancer. These findings warrant a fully powered larger randomised controlled trial.
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Support Care Cancer · Jun 2015
Development of a lack of appetite item bank for computer-adaptive testing (CAT).
A significant proportion of oncological patients experiences lack of appetite. Precise measurement is relevant to improve the management of lack of appetite. The so-called computer-adaptive test (CAT) allows for adaptation of the questionnaire to the individual patient, thereby optimizing measurement precision. The EORTC Quality of Life Group is developing a CAT version of the widely used EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire. Here, we report on the development of the lack of appetite CAT. ⋯ Phases 1-3 resulted in 12 lack of appetite candidate items. Based on a field testing (phase 4), the psychometric characteristics of the items will be assessed and the final item bank will be generated. This CAT item bank is expected to provide precise and efficient measurement of lack of appetite while still being backward compatible to the original QLQ-C30 scale.