Palliative care among adult cancer survivors: Knowledge, attitudes, and correlates.

OBJECTIVE: Palliative care (PC) is patient and family-centered supportive care intended to improve symptom management, reduce caregiver burden, coordinate care, and improve quality of life for patients diagnosed with serious illness. Optimally, PC is begun close to initial diagnosis and delivered in synchrony with disease-specific treatment until symptom relief or patient death. The purpose of this study was to examine cancer survivors' knowledge and perceptions of PC using a nationally representative sample of US adults from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). METHOD: A total of 593 HINTS respondents reported a personal history of cancer and were included in the sample (55.56% female; mean age of 65.88 years, SD = 18.21; mean time from diagnosis 13.83 years, SD = 18.21). Weighted logistic regression models were conducted to identify correlates of PC knowledge. RESULTS: Of the 593 cancer survivors in the sample, 66% (N = 378) reported that they had never heard of PC, 18% (N = 112) reported knowing a little bit about PC, and 17% (N = 95) reported knowing what PC is and could explain it to someone else. In multivariable analysis, survivors of color (Hispanic/Latino, Black, Asian, American Indian, and Pacific Islander), males, and those less educated were significantly less likely to report knowledge of PC. Among survivors who did report knowledge of PC, a lack of distinction between differing modes of supportive care exists. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: These findings suggest a need to increase PC knowledge among cancer survivors with the ultimate goal of addressing disparities in PC acceptance and utilization.

Neuropsychological outcomes on Head Start III: a prospective, multi-institutional clinical trial for young children diagnosed with malignant brain tumors.

BACKGROUND: Current pediatric brain tumor treatment focuses on titrating toxicity based on risk factors while simultaneously improving survivorship. The Head Start (HS) protocols I to IV (1991-present) use high-dose chemotherapy (HDCTx) with an aim of reducing or eliminating cranial irradiation in very young children, the most vulnerable to its effects. METHODS: We examined estimated Full Scale IQ, overall Adaptive Functioning, Working Memory, Processing Speed, and Verbal and Nonverbal Memory outcome data for 43 HS III patients diagnosed between ages 2 months and 7 years from 15 institutions in the United States and Canada. RESULTS: At a mean of 5.12 years postdiagnosis, the HS III patients performed within the average to low-average ranges across these variables; however, individual variability was noted with scores ranging from superior to impaired, and the sample as a whole performed lower than age expectations. Performance did not significantly differ by sex or ethnicity, diagnosis, or for those treated with an intravenous methotrexate dose of 400 mg/kg vs 270 mg/kg. Additionally, performance did not significantly differ by age at diagnosis or length of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The results, indicating overall average to low-average neurocognitive functioning, are encouraging, though significant individual variability was noted. Those who were younger at diagnosis, received more intensive methotrexate, and were further out from treatment were not at significantly increased risk of cognitive decline within our sample, suggesting a strategy of using HDCTx and autologous hematopoietic progenitor cell rescue to reduce or eliminate irradiation may allow for continued CNS development in young children treated for a brain tumor.

Pregnancy in a Patient With a Malignant Brain Tumor Taking Temozolomide: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Temozolomide (TMZ), an alkylating agent used in the treatment of malignant gliomas, is a pregnancy category D medication that is not advised for use in pregnant women. We report the case of a 19-year-old woman with anaplastic oligodendroglioma (high-grade glioma) who became pregnant during maintenance chemotherapy consisting of TMZ 200 mg/m(2) administered 5 days monthly. The TMZ was immediately discontinued after she developed a positive pregnancy test. She delivered a full-term healthy baby boy with no prenatal or perinatal complications. Adolescents and young adults with brain tumors are often sexually active and should receive intensive and repeated anticipatory guidance regarding contraception while receiving chemotherapy. Pediatric oncology nurses are in a unique position to provide this education for patients and ensure that young women have appropriate pregnancy testing prior to chemotherapy administration.

Structural brain alterations in children an average of 5 years after surgery and chemotherapy for brain tumors.

Young children with brain tumors are often treated with high-dose chemotherapy after surgery to avoid brain tissue injury associated with irradiation. The effects of systemic chemotherapy on healthy brain tissue in this population, however, are unclear. Our objective was to compare gray and white matter integrity using MRI procedures in children with brain tumors (n = 7, mean age 8.3 years), treated with surgery and high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic cell rescue (AuHCR) an average of 5.4 years earlier, to age- and gender-matched healthy controls (n = 9, mean age 9.3 years). Diffusion tensor imaging data were collected to evaluate tissue integrity throughout the brain, as measured by mean diffusivity (MD), a marker of glial, neuronal, and axonal status, and fractional anisotropy (FA), an index of axonal health. Individual MD and FA maps were calculated, normalized, smoothed, and compared between groups using analysis of covariance, with age and sex as covariates. Higher MD values, indicative of injury, emerged in patients compared with controls (p < .05, corrected for multiple comparisons), and were especially apparent in the central thalamus, external capsule, putamen, globus pallidus and pons. Reduced FA values in some regions did not reach significance after correction for multiple comparisons. Children treated with surgery and high-dose chemotherapy with AuHCR for brain tumors an average of 5.4 years earlier show alterations in white and gray matter in multiple brain areas distant from the tumor site, raising the possibility for long-term consequences of the tumor or treatment.

The role of the long-term follow-up clinic in discovering new emerging late effects in adult survivors of childhood cancer.

Our understanding of late effects in long-term survivors of childhood cancer is continually evolving as significant numbers of survivors are entering middle to later adulthood. Effects of conventional treatment on premature aging are being recognized, as are long-term effects of newer therapies. Clinicians in long-term follow-up clinics are in a unique position to monitor for recognized late effects and to be alert to signs and symptoms of late effects that have not been previously reported in the pediatric cancer literature. This article presents 2 young adult survivors who displayed subtle signs of impaired cerebral blood flow due to carotid artery stenosis many years after being treated with neck irradiation. When the first patient presented nearly a decade ago in the clinic with symptoms, premature carotid artery disease was not a radiation-related late effect that had been reported previously in survivors of childhood cancer. These cases are used to illustrate the key role of long-term follow-up clinics in identifying new and emerging treatment-related late effects and underscore the importance of lifetime surveillance and the need for collaboration between pediatric and adult health care providers.

Recognizing health risks in childhood cancer survivors.

PURPOSE: To provide information about the special health needs of childhood cancer survivors through a discussion of Wilms' tumor, a common childhood renal tumor, and case studies of two survivors of Wilms' tumor, who encountered significant health problems as adults. This information may be generalized to many cancer survivors. DATA SOURCES: Actual case studies as well as extensive review of the current literature on childhood cancer survivorship. CONCLUSIONS: Adult healthcare practitioners may help to decrease morbidity of childhood cancer survivors in adulthood when they are knowledgeable about the risks of this population. Resources are readily available, both in the medical literature and on the Internet. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: With well-established success in the treatment of childhood cancer, there are many young and middle-aged adult survivors of the disease. However, as many as two-thirds of survivors may have chronic long-term effects of treatment. Most survivors eventually discontinue follow-up with their pediatric oncologists and receive primary health care from adult providers, many of whom are unaware of survivors' health risks. Awareness of primary care providers regarding the special health needs of childhood cancer survivors is critical to decrease morbidity and improve quality of life. The ever-increasing number of childhood cancer survivors is creating a public health issue as they transition into adulthood.