Symptom burden among metastatic cancer patients receiving palliative chemotherapy.

Abstract

e20696 Background: Cancer-related symptoms are less investigated but frequently reported patient-experienced symptom clusters. In palliative oncology, focus is on recognizing and addressing these symptoms, and giving quality of life. The purpose of this study is to determine the severity of cancer related symptoms among metastatic cancer patients on palliative chemotherapy using the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (Filipino) [MDASI-F]. Methods: A cross-sectional study among metastatic cancer patients undergoing palliative chemotherapy at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippines, was performed using MDASI-F. Results: A total of 114 patients were included with a mean age of 55.5 years. 61% were female, and 39% were male. 81.6% were married, while 14% were single and 4.4% were widowed. Highest educational level attained were college (78.1%), high school (19.3%) and primary school (2.6%). Average Body Mass Index fall on 23 kg/m2. Majority of the patients have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status of 1 (54.4%), followed by ECOG 2 (19.3%), ECOG 0 (18.4%), and ECOG 3 (7.9%). The most common cancer site is breast (30.7%), followed by colon (21.9%), and lungs (16.7%), while the remaining 30.7% belong to other cancer sites. Majority of the patients have one metastatic site (68.4%), 22.8% have two, while 8.8% have 3 metastatic sites. Mean duration of illness from the time of diagnosis was 13.67 months. The most severe cancer related symptoms were sleep disturbance (mean 3.48), fatigue (mean 3.36) and pain (mean 3.14). Interestingly, all Filipino metastatic cancer related severity symptoms and interference items belong to the mild severity score (scores of 0-3) using the MDSAI-F. Conclusions: Among Filipino metastatic cancer patients on palliative chemotherapy, cancer-related symptom severity items and interference items were shown to have mild severity scores based on the MDASI-F.