Among selected patients who died for advanced cancer in our Operative Unit from 2007 to 2009, 50% received chemotherapy in the last 3 months of life. The availability of palliative care services in the territory of residence of patients can influence the interval between the last chemotherapy administration and death.

BackgroundEpidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are widely prescribed anticancer drugs. Patients treated commonly develop dermatologic adverse drugs reactions, but rarely they are involved in systematic evaluation of their quality of life. This monocentric cross sectional study is carried out to assess quality of life in colon cancer patients experienced skin side effects due to anti epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors therapy.MethodsConsecutive patients with skin side effects to therapy treated at Fondazione Poliambulanza were enrolled in this study. Quality of life was evaluated with the Italian validated version of Skindex-29 questionnaire, exploring three dimensions: symptoms, emotional, and physical functioning. Skindex-29 was administered one time between the eighth and the twelfth week of the treatment.ResultsForty-five consecutive patients, mainly with metastatic colon cancer (29 female, 16 male), with an average age of 59.31 years (ranging from 34-78) were included in the study and analyzed. Patients showed a great impact of skin side effects on symptoms (mean 43), followed by emotional (mean 30), and functioning (mean 26) scales. In general women, the 55-65 age class, and patients with partial remission reported the worst quality of life.ConclusionsEpidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors' skin side effects have an important impact on quality of life in advanced colon cancer patients; symptoms scale is the most effect respect to emotional and functioning scales.

Background: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is an adverse event of taxanes, with no effective prevention or treatment available and a highly negative impact on patient quality of life. The aim of this study is to asses that the constant application of cooled cuffs on the hands and feet prevent and mitigate CIPN. Methods: Patients with breast, gynecologic, and pancreatic cancer who received weekly paclitaxel (PTX), PTX/carboplatin, and nab-paclitaxel (nab-PTX)/gemcitabine for any indication at the therapeutic scheduled dosage were included in this prospective study. Hilotherm Chemo care device forms a closed-loop system with cuffs and tubes through which a coolant flows at a temperature of 10 °C. CIPN was monitored using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (edition 3.0), and the tolerability and side effects were scored by using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (T4.03 2017). Results: To date, we have enrolled 64 patients. Of these, 54 (84%) completed all cooling cycles. Continuous cooling was well tolerated by all patients. No patients had grade >2 CIPN or had serious or lasting adverse events as a result of Hilotherapy. The median time to CIPN onset was 77 days for the entire population. Conclusion: Hilotherapy has good effectiveness and tolerability and seems to be able to prevent or reduce the symptoms of CIPN. We are still recruiting patients to obtain more data and to collect data at 3 months after the end of chemotherapy. Prospective studies seem to be warranted.

The tests did not show a significant effect on anxiety and body image perception, but the patients reported that the psycho-educational group was an important intervention for their life. Outcome measurement is more complex in psychosocial research because many variables come into play and each phase of treatment is characterized by different types of problems for the patient: physical, relational and psychological aspects are involved.

Our study confirmed what has been reported in the literature: high levels of anxiety and depression affect communication among family members. Not surprisingly, the "fighting spirit" coping style engenders open communication.