Investigation of Optimal Time for Starting Betamethasone Using Fatigue Scores and Prognostic Nutritional Index in Terminally Ill Patients With Cancer-Related Fatigue

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 449-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanako Koyama ◽  
Chikako Matsumura ◽  
Hiroaki Morii ◽  
Chiaki Hasegawa ◽  
Daiki Hira ◽  
...  

Background: Corticosteroids are frequently used to treat cancer-related fatigue (CRF), but it is yet to be established as standard care, and few reports have defined the appropriate time to start treatment. Objectives: We investigated the optimal time for starting betamethasone and evaluated the clinical validity of using the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) for this purpose. Methods: Data were retrospectively collected for patients with terminal cancer receiving betamethasone for palliative care. Fatigue strength was evaluated by the daily occurrence of fatigue, using proportion of adequate fatigue, AF(%), defined as the average of the daily score for all treatment days, AF(%)all, the initial 5 days, AF(%)initi5, or the last 5 days, AF(%)last5. We examined (1) the relationship between survival time and adequate fatigue for CRF and (2) the correlation between survival time and PNI (based on serum albumin and lymphocytes). Results: Data from 24 patients were included. The AF(%)all was approximately 50% at 42 days before death and gradually decreased as the survival time shortened ( R2 =.41, P <.001). There was a clear positive correlation between AF(%)all and AF(%)initi5 ( R2 =.84, P <.001). At 42 days before death, PNI was approximately 30 and significantly correlated with the survival time ( R2 = .873, P <.001). Conclusion: The adequate fatigue appears to be dependent on survival time, and PNI might be useful for identifying patients that will benefit from betamethasone use. It is hoped that these results will contribute to individualized pharmacotherapy of terminally ill patients with CRF.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Ren ◽  
Xiaobin Chen ◽  
Pan Lei ◽  
Lizhao Hou ◽  
Haijiu Wang ◽  
...  

BackgroundTo explore the relationship between the preoperative immune inflammation index (SII) and the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and the overall survival rate (OS) of patients with alveolar hydatid disease.MethodsThe clinical data of patients with hepatic alveolar echinococcosis treated by surgery in the Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University from January 2015 to January 2019 were analyzed retrospectively, and the SII, PNI, PLR and NLR were calculated. Spearman correlation analysis was utilized to analyze the correlation among SII, PNI, PLR and NLR. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was utilized to determine the best intercept values of SII, PNI, PLR and NLR, and Chi-square test was used to evaluate the relationship between SII, PNI and various clinicopathological features in patients with hepatic alveolar echinococcosis. The kaplan-Meier method was used to draw survival curves and analyze the relationship between them and the total survival time of patients. A cox regression model was used to analyze the relationship between SII, PNI and the prognosis of patients with hepatic alveolar echinococcosis. Finally, ROC curve was used to estimate the predictive efficacy of SII, PNI and COSII-PNI for the prognosis of patients with hepatic alveolar echinococcosis.ResultsA total of 242 patients were included, including 96 males and 146 females, aged 11.0-67.0 (36.6 ± 11.7) years. The values of SII, PNI, PLR and NLR are calculated, and the best truncation values of SII, PNI, PLR and NLR are given in ROC curve. The kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to analyze the relationship between SII, PNI, PLR, NLR and the overall survival time of patients with hepatic alveolar echinococcosis. The results showed that the median follow-up time was 45 months (95%CI: 39.484-50.516), and the average survival time was 49 months (95%CI: 47.300-51.931), which was low p&lt;0.001); The 5-year OS rate of low PNI was significantly lower than that of high PNI group (37.7% vs 71.6%; p&lt;0.001); The 5-year OS rate in low PLR group was significantly higher than that in high PLR group (70.4% vs 24.3%; p&lt;0.001); The 5-year OS rate in low NLR group was significantly higher than that in high NLR group (67.2% vs 28.8%; p&lt;0.001). Cox unifoliate analysis showed that SII, PNI, PLR and NLR were important prognostic factors related to OS. Cox multivariate analysis showed that SII(HR=4.678, 95% CI: 2.581-8.480, P&lt;0.001) and PNI(HR=0.530, 95%CI: 0.305-0.920, P&lt;0.05) were identified as independent risk indicators of OS, while NL was identified as independent risk indicators of OS ROC curve analysis showed that AUC of SII, PNI, PLR, NLR and COSII-PNI were 0.670(95%CI: 0.601-0.738), 0.638(95%CI: 0.561-0.716) and 0.618(95% CI: 0.541-0.694), respectively COSII-PNI is superior to SII and PNI in evaluating prognosis (P &lt; 0.05).ConclusionsSII and PNI can be regarded as independent risk factors reflecting the prognosis of patients with hepatic alveolar echinococcosis. The lower SII and the higher PNI before operation, the better the prognosis of patients, and the combined application of SII and PNI before operation can improve the accuracy of prediction.


BMC Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanako Koyama ◽  
Chikako Matsumura ◽  
Yoshihiro Shitashimizu ◽  
Morito Sako ◽  
Hideo Kurosawa ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The clinical use of patient-reported outcomes as compared to inflammatory biomarkers for predicting cancer survival remains a challenge in palliative care settings. We evaluated the role of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 Palliative scores (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) and the inflammatory biomarkers C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin (Alb), and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) for survival prediction in patients with advanced cancer. Methods This was an observational study in terminally ill patients with cancer hospitalized in a palliative care unit between June 2018 and December 2019. Patients’ data collected at the time of hospitalization were analyzed. Cox regression was performed to examine significant factors influencing survival. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to estimate cut-off values for predicting survival within 3 weeks, and a log-rank test was performed to compare survival curves between groups divided by the cut-off values. Results Totally, 130 patients participated in the study. Cox regression suggested that the QLQ-C15-PAL dyspnea and fatigue scores and levels of CRP, Alb, and NLR were significantly associated with survival time, and cut-off values were 66.67, 66.67, 3.0 mg/dL, 2.5 g/dL, and 8.2, respectively. The areas under ROC curves of these variables were 0.6–0.7. There were statistically significant differences in the survival curves between groups categorized using each of these cut-off values (p < .05 for all cases). Conclusion Our findings suggest that the assessment of not only objective indicators for the systemic inflammatory response but also patient-reported outcomes using EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL is beneficial for the prediction of short-term survival in terminally ill patients with cancer.


Author(s):  
Nanako Koyama ◽  
Chikako Matsumura ◽  
Yuuna Tahara ◽  
Morito Sako ◽  
Hideo Kurosawa ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose The aims of the present study were to investigate the symptom clusters in terminally ill patients with cancer using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 Palliative Care (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL), and to examine whether these symptom clusters influenced prognosis. Methods We analyzed data from 130 cancer patients hospitalized in the palliative care unit from June 2018 to December 2019 in an observational study. Principal component analysis was used to detect symptom clusters using the scored date of 14 items in the QLQ-C15-PAL, except for overall QOL, at the time of hospitalization. The influence of the existence of these symptom clusters and Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) on survival was analyzed by Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, and survival curves were compared between the groups with or without existing corresponding symptom clusters using the log-rank test. Results The following symptom clusters were identified: cluster 1 (pain, insomnia, emotional functioning), cluster 2 (dyspnea, appetite loss, fatigue, and nausea), and cluster 3 (physical functioning). Cronbach’s alpha values for the symptom clusters ranged from 0.72 to 0.82. An increased risk of death was significantly associated with the existence of cluster 2 and poor PPS (log-rank test, p = 0.016 and p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusion In terminally ill patients with cancer, three symptom clusters were detected based on QLQ-C15-PAL scores. Poor PPS and the presence of symptom cluster that includes dyspnea, appetite loss, fatigue, and nausea indicated poor prognosis.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuya Okamoto ◽  
Michiyo Ando ◽  
Tatsuya Morita ◽  
Kei Hirai ◽  
Ryo Kawamura ◽  
...  

2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 267-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Mok ◽  
Faye Chan ◽  
Vivian Chan ◽  
Ellen Yeung

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 1109-1117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwo-Chen Lee ◽  
Ya-Ling Hsieh ◽  
Pi-Chu Lin ◽  
Yun-Ping Lin

Background: Sleep disturbance commonly has a negative impact on the well-being of family caregivers (FCs) of terminally ill patients with cancer. The effect of sleep disturbance on FCs has not been explored through long-term follow-up studies in Taiwan. Objective: The purposes of this study were to (1) identify the trajectory of sleep quality of FCs of terminally ill patients with cancer in Taiwan and (2) examine the determinants of sleep disturbance through a longitudinal follow-up until patient death. Methods: A prospective, longitudinal study was conducted among 95 FCs of terminally ill patients with cancer. The FCs’ sleep quality was measured subjectively by using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and objectively by wearing a wrist actigraphy for 48 hours each month during the 6-month follow-up assessments. The trajectory and determinants of sleep quality were identified using a generalized estimation equation approach. Results: The FCs’ sleep quality significantly decreased as the patient’s death approached. Family caregivers who were women or older, had a relative with a longer survival period after diagnosis, reported higher levels of depression and fatigue, and provided lower levels of assistance to their relatives experienced more sleep disturbance. Conclusion: The sleep quality of Taiwanese FCs significantly deteriorated as the death of the terminally ill patients with cancer approached. Early detection of the FCs’ sleep disturbance, increasing their self-awareness of sleep problems, and providing nonpharmacological interventions and psychosocial support may be helpful for FCs to improve their quantity and quality of sleep.


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