Gastric Cancer, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, Pancreas Cancer
Conditions
Keywords
cancer, early palliative care, feasibility
Brief summary
The objective of this phase 2 study is to evaluate the feasibility of an early palliative care intervention for metastatic cancer patients. Feasibility will be assessed in terms of percentage of patients that accept the proposal of the early palliative care intervention and that effectively start to be followed in the palliative care out-patient clinic. The study will be performed in a consecutive series of newly diagnosed patients affected by lung cancer (NSCLC or SCLC, stage IIIb, IV), mesothelioma (stage II, IV), pancreas (stage IV), stomach (stage IIIb-IV).
Interventions
OTHERThe early palliative care programme
The intervention consists of an early integration of a palliative care programme with the standard care performed by the oncologists-pneumologists that are following the cancer patients. The intervention will be delivered by the specialised Palliative Care Unit (PCU) of the hospital. Each patient meets the professionals of the PCU by 30 days by cancer diagnosis and at least monthly thereafter in the outpatint settings.
Sponsors
Azienda USL Reggio Emilia - IRCCS
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* patients within 8 weeks of cancer diagnosis confirmed by histology or cytology * lung cancer (NSCLC or SCLC) stage IIIb-IV OR mesothelioma stage III-IV OR pancreas cancer stage IV, OR gastric cancer stage IIIb-IV * age more than 18 years * performance status (ECOG) ≤ 2; * ability to read, understand and fill-in the questionnaires * written informed consent to the study
Exclusion criteria
* any chemotherapy, radiotherapy or ormonotherapy for any tumour in the past 12 months
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| percentage of cancer patients that accept and attend the early palliative care programme | up to 30 days after the diagnosis of cancer | percentage of eligible cancer patients that accept the proposal of the intervention (the early palliative care programme) and that, by 30 days after the diagnosis, effectively start to be followed by the Palliative Care Unit |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| percentage of cancer patients that receive the proposal of early palliative by the oncologists-pneumologists | up to 30 days after the diagnosis of cancer | percentage of newly diagnosed eligible cancer patients that receive the proposal of the itegrated early palliative care programme |
Countries
Italy
Outcome results
None listed