Supportive Care in Cancer: Official Journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer

PURPOSE: Few studies have investigated nutrition impact symptoms and eating-related distress among advanced cancer patients and their families. This is a questionnaire survey to examine the severity of nutrition impact symptoms and the prevalence of eating-related distress among them in palliative and supportive care settings. METHODS: Questionnaires for patients and their families were preliminarily developed. We selected 16 common symptoms of advanced cancer, i...

PURPOSE: To investigate the impact of hyperglycemia and glycemic variability during intensive acute myeloid leukemia therapy (AML) on outcomes by age. METHODS: Retrospective study of 262 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed AML hospitalized for intensive induction. Hyperglycemia was assessed by mean blood glucose (BG) (mg/dL) during hospitalization and glycemic variability was determined by the standard deviation (SD) of mean BG. Outcomes were complete remission ± incomplete count recovery (CR + CRi), and overall survival (OS)...

PURPOSE: Neuroinflammation and central sensitization from cancer and its therapy may result in chronic systemic symptoms (CSS) such as fatigue, sleep disturbance, chronic widespread pain, mood disorders, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and temperature dysregulation. We undertook a cross-sectional study of CSS in head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors to determine their frequency, severity, and impact. METHODS: HNC patients without evidence of recurrence who were at least 12 months post-treatment completed a one-time battery of self-report measures including the Vanderbilt Head and Neck Symptom survey plus the General Symptom Subscale, the Body Image Quality of Life Inventory, Neurotoxicity Rating Scale, the Profile of Mood States, and a five-item quality of life measure...

PURPOSE: To gain breast cancer survivors' perspectives on participation in a home-based physical activity intervention and the factors that contributed to their acceptance and adherence to physical activity. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six women who had participated in a 12-week, home-based physical activity intervention using Polar A360® activity trackers. Additionally, 22 participants from the physical activity interventions provided scaled responses to barriers of physical activity on weeks 3, 6, 9, and 12...

The "NCI Grant No. 5R25CA116339, Outcomes Research Branch of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health" is not included in the Funding information. The below is the correct "Funding/Support".

PURPOSE: Poor adherence to analgesic drugs is one of the most common barriers to adequate pain management. This prospective, cross-sectional, patient-oriented observational study aimed to explore the adherence rate, clinical factors, and impact of adherence to analgesic drugs on the quality of life (QoL) among cancer outpatients in Taiwan. METHODS: Eight hundred ninety-seven consecutive adult outpatients with cancer who had reported tumor pain and received regular analgesic drug treatment were enrolled from 16 medical centers across Taiwan...

PURPOSE: This project's purpose was to determine the effects of a home-based reflexology intervention on symptom-related use of health services and work-related productivity during the 11-week study. METHODS: A total of 256 patients were randomized to four weekly reflexology sessions (each lasting 30 min, delivered by lay caregivers who received two training sessions by a professional reflexologist) or attention control. The Conventional Health Service and Productivity Costs Form was used to collect information on health service utilization and out-of-pocket expenditure of symptom management...

INTRODUCTION: The antipsychotic drug olanzapine is effective against chemotherapy-induced nausea and targets multiple receptors known to be involved in the emetic reflex arch. The drug has a mean half-life of 30 h, which allows for a single daily administration and is therefore of interest in patients with advanced cancer suffering from nausea. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the antiemetic effect and tolerability of olanzapine in patients with advanced cancer not receiving chemotherapy or irradiation...

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of the pre-prescription of garenoxacin mesylate hydrate (GRNX) with that of moxifloxacin hydrochloride (MFLX) in the management of breast cancer patients with low-risk febrile neutropenia. METHODS: Data from female patients who had been instructed to take previously prescribed oral GRNX or MFLX for 3 days during adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy if their body temperature exceeded 38 °C were analyzed...

PURPOSE: Currently, there is no approved therapy for cancer cachexia. According to European and American regulatory agencies, physical function improvements would be approvable co-primary endpoints of new anti-cachexia medications. As physical functioning is in part dependent on cardiac functioning, we aimed to explore the cardiac status of a group of patients meeting current criteria for inclusion in cachexia clinical trials. METHODS: Seventy treatment-naive patients with metastatic NSCLC [36 (51...

PURPOSE: Physical activity (PA) has been shown to improve quality of life and survival in cancer survivors; however, a cancer diagnosis may change PA patterns. We examine determinants of changes in meeting the PA guidelines (150 min/week of moderate aerobic PA) before and after a prostate cancer diagnosis. METHODS: Eight hundred and thirty prostate cancer survivors who participated in a population-based case-control study between 1997 and 2000 in Alberta, Canada, enrolled in a prospective cohort study...

INTRODUCTION: There is a need to improve the psychosocial well-being of cancer patients. To date, intervention research has primarily focussed on improving psychosocial well-being through targeting singular aspects of care at the individual patient level. Sustainable, high-quality psychosocial care should address the issues faced by people diagnosed with cancer throughout the care pathway using a system-based approach. AIMS: To examine the number of intervention trials attempting to improve psychosocial cancer care that have implemented a system-based approach...

PURPOSE: Fatigue has found increasing attention as a debilitating and lasting condition of cancer patients. However, it has remained unclear to what degree long-term survivors of malignant melanoma suffer from fatigue. Therefore, this study aimed to determine fatigue and its link with quality of life, aftercare behavior, and mental and physical symptoms among melanoma survivors. METHODS: A register-based sample of 684 long-term survivors an average of 8.4 (SD = 1...

PURPOSE: Identifying and assessing psychosocial distress with an appropriate screening instrument is essential when caring for cancer patients. Since 2012, the distress thermometer (DT) has been used by nurses for all cancer inpatients at the Comprehensive Cancer Center Zurich. We wanted to identify nurses' adherence to the screening protocol, differences between screened and not screened patients and the relationship between screening rate and productivity. METHODS: This retrospective descriptive study used screening and referral data as well as socioeconomic and disease-related data of inpatients at the Comprehensive Cancer Center Zurich...

PURPOSE: Acute leukemia (AL) is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. We assessed the prevalence and correlates of pain in patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed AL. METHODS: Patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed AL admitted to a comprehensive cancer center completed the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS), which assesses prevalence, severity, and distress associated with pain and other symptoms. Factors associated with severe pain were assessed using logistic regression...

BACKGROUND: Data on patients' needs with respect to physicians' ethical behavior and virtues are important but not available in most cases. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In an iterative process together with patients' representatives, we developed a standardized questionnaire which was distributed to the representatives of the Women's Self-Help after Cancer in Germany. We started with the classical ethical virtues and clustered them to characteristics. The patients' representatives were asked to rate in different communications settings...

PURPOSE: Although family caregivers (FCs) of older adults with cancer (OACs) provide invaluable assistance by fulfilling multiple tasks along the cancer trajectory, evidence suggests that their needs are poorly assessed, and there is a scarcity of supportive interventions that influence their well-being. Viewing these issues as opportunities for improvement, we conducted this qualitative study to understand FCs' needs and identify promising needs-focused interventions. METHODS: This descriptive interpretive qualitative study was conducted in Quebec, Canada, in a French Canadian Oncology Clinic...

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer patients undergoing postoperative chemotherapy often exhibit symptoms of depression that in turn may negatively affect outcome. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of telephone-based reminiscence therapy on the depression, anxiety, subjective well-being, and social support of colorectal cancer patients undergoing postoperative chemotherapy complicated with depression. METHODS: Patients were divided randomly into a control group (CON, n = 45), telephone support group (TS, n = 45), and telephone-based reminiscence therapy group (TBR, n = 45)...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

PURPOSE: This study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of an online mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) for people diagnosed with melanoma. The potential benefit of the MBI on fear of cancer recurrence (FCR), worry, rumination, perceived stress and trait mindfulness was also explored. METHODS: Participants who have completed treatment for stage 2c or 3 melanoma were recruited from an outpatient clinic and randomly allocated to either the online MBI (intervention) or usual care (control)...