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Studies Identify New Strategies for Improving Quality of Life for Cancer Patients and Survivors

CONTACT: Annual Meeting News Room
Phone: 407-685-5412

Orlando, Fla—Studies examining new approaches to improving the quality of life of people with cancer and cancer survivors were released today at a press briefing at the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

“One of the underappreciated advances in cancer care over the past twenty years has been the improvement in patient quality of life,” said Jennifer C. Obel, M.D. attending physician at NorthShore University HealthSystem, who moderated the press briefing. “We are far better at helping patients cope with pain, nausea and other common side effects of cancer and its treatment. The studies presented today demonstrate continued progress on this front, while pointing to areas where we need to focus our attention, like the ongoing care of cancer survivors.”

Studies highlighted in the press briefing include:

• Prophylactic Creams and Antibiotics Reduce Severe Drug-Related Skin Rash: Giving colon cancer patients a combination of moisturizers, sunscreen, topical steroids and antibiotics before they receive the targeted therapy panitumumab (Vectibix) reduced the incidence of a common, severe skin rash by more than half.
• Low Rates of Screening among Childhood Cancer Survivors: Too few survivors of childhood cancer are getting recommended screenings for cancers of the breast, colon and skin, even though many have an elevated risk of these cancers.
• Childhood Cancer Survivors at Risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: While incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder among adult survivors of pediatric cancers was low overall (9 percent), it was nearly five times greater than that of their healthy siblings.
• Fertility Preservation Guidelines not Widely Followed by Oncologists: While most oncologists report discussing fertility preservation with patients of childbearing age, only a quarter of them reported referring patients to reproductive specialists or distributing educational materials.
• Partial Breast Irradiation May Be as Effective as Conventional Radiation Therapy: Partial breast irradiation—a shorter, more targeted course of treatment than traditional radiation therapy—may offer the same benefits as conventional whole-breast radiation therapy for early-stage breast cancer with fewer side effects, but further study is necessary before the approach can be recommended for widespread use.

For consumer-oriented information on these studies and more than 120 cancer types, please refer your readers to ASCO’s patient website, www.Cancer.Net.