The Effect of ACE Inhibitor on the Quality of Life amongst Patients with Cancer Cachexia

IntroductionPatients with cancer undergoing surgery often suffer from reduced quality of life and various forms of distress. Untreated distress can negatively affect coping resources as well as surgical and oncological outcomes. A virtual reality-based stress reduction intervention may increase quality of life and well-being and reduce distress in the perioperative phase for patients with cancer. This pilot trial aims to explore the feasibility of the proposed intervention, assess patient acceptability and obtain estimates of effect to provide data for sample size calculations.Methods and analysisPatients with colorectal cancer and liver metastasis undergoing elective surgery will be recruited for this single-centre, randomised pilot trial with a three-arm design. A total of 54 participants will be randomised at 1:1:1 ratio to one of two intervention groups or a control receiving standard treatment. Those randomised to an intervention group will either receive perioperative virtual reality-based stress reduction exercises twice daily or listen to classical music twice daily. Primary feasibility outcomes are number and proportions of participants recruited, screened, consented and randomised. Furthermore, adherence to the intervention, compliance with the completion of the quality of life questionnaires and feasibility of implementing the trial procedures will be assessed. Secondary clinical outcomes are measurements of the effectiveness of the interventions to inform sample size calculations.Ethics and disseminationThe study protocol, the patient information and the informed consent form have been approved by the ethics committee of the Ludwigs-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany (Reference Number: 19–915). Study findings will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberDRKS00020909.

Download Full-text

Correction to: The relationship between comorbidity medication adherence and health related quality of life among patients with cancer

Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes ◽

10.1186/s41687-021-00300-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Dana Drzayich Antol ◽

Adrianne Waldman Casebeer ◽

Raya Khoury ◽

Todd Michael ◽

Andrew Renda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Medication Adherence ◽

Health Related Quality ◽

Patients With Cancer ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related ◽

The Relationship

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Download Full-text

Observational non-randomised controlled evaluation of the effectiveness of cancer counselling centres: a study protocol

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2019-032889 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (12) ◽

pp. e032889

Author(s):

Solveigh Paola Lingens ◽

Georgia Schilling ◽

Julia Harms ◽

Holger Schulz ◽

Christiane Bleich

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Short Form ◽

Control Group ◽

Life Questionnaire ◽

Psychosocial Variables ◽

European Organization ◽

Psychological Burden ◽

Patients With Cancer ◽

Small Effect Size

IntroductionIn recent years, medical treatment for cancer has improved, thereby increasing the life expectancy of patients with cancer. Hence, the focus in healthcare shifted towards analysing treatments that offer to decrease distress and improve the quality of life of patients with cancer. The psychological burden of patients with cancer originates from all kinds of psychosocial challenges related to diagnosis and treatment. Cancer counselling centres (CCounCs) try to address these concerns. However, the current literature lacks research on the effectiveness of CCounCs. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of CCounCs with regard to distress and other relevant psychosocial variables (quality of life, anxietyand so on).Methods and analysisThis prospective observational study with a non-randomised control group has three measurement points: before the first counselling session (baseline, t0) and at 2 weeks and 3 months after baseline (t1, t2). Patients and their relatives who seek counselling between December 2018 and November 2020 and have sufficient German language skills will be included. The control group will be recruited at clinics and oncological outpatient centres in Hamburg. Propensity scoring will be applied to adjust for differences between the control and intervention groups at baseline. Sociodemographic data, medical data and counselling concerns are measured at baseline. Distress (distress thermometer), quality of life (Short Form-8 Health Survey, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30), anxiety (Generalized AnxietyDisorder-7), depression (Patient HealthQuestionnaire-9) and further psychosocial variables are assessed at all time points. With a total of 787 participants, differences between the intervention and control groups of a small effect size (f=0.10) can be detected with a power of 80%.Ethics and disseminationThe study was registered prior to data collection with the German Registration of Clinical Trials in September 2018. Ethical approval was received by the local psychological ethical committee of the Center for Psychosocial Medicine at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf in August 2018. The results will be published in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberDRKS00015516; Pre-results.

Download Full-text

Fears, beliefs, and quality of life of patients with cancer vs the general population during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Lombardy

Tumori Journal ◽

10.1177/03008916211022848 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 030089162110228

Author(s):

Carla Ida Ripamonti ◽

Giacomo Massa ◽

Daniela Insolvibile ◽

Mauro Guglielmo ◽

Guido Miccinesi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

General Population ◽

Perceived Risk ◽

Well Being ◽

Comprehensive Cancer Center ◽

Cancer Center ◽

Psychological Consequences ◽

Patients With Cancer ◽

Fear Of Cancer

Aim: To understand how patients with cancer reacted to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and whether their quality of life (QoL) was affected. Methods: In June 2020, 111 patients with cancer treated in the supportive care unit of a Comprehensive Cancer Center in Milan and 201 healthy controls from the general population were enrolled and assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively for fears and COVID-19–related beliefs as well as for QoL. Results: Fear of COVID-19 was significantly lower among patients (41% vs 57.6%; p = 0.007), as was fear of cancer (61.5% vs 85.6%; p < 0.001) and other diseases. The perceived risk of getting COVID-19 was lower among patients (25.2% vs 52.7%; p < 0.001), as was the belief of having been exposed to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (18.1% vs 40.8%; p < 0.001). The physical component of QoL was better among the population (54.5 vs 43.8; p < 0.001); the reverse was true for patients’ psychological well-being (44.6 vs 39.6; p < 0.001). The qualitative data supported such results, showing a reduced psychological effect on the patients with cancer compared to the controls. Various reasons explain this result, including the awareness of being treated for cancer and nevertheless protected against getting infected in a cancer center of public health reorganized to continue treating patients by protecting them and personnel from the risk of infection. Conclusions: The experience of a cancer diagnosis, together with proper hospital reorganization, may act as protective factors from fears and psychological consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Download Full-text