Cancer Anorexia and Cachexia: Screening in an Ambulatory Infusion Service and Nutrition Consultation

Symptom impact and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) assessment by cancer stage: a narrative literature review

BACKGROUND

Cancer stage at diagnosis is an important prognostic indicator for patient outcomes, with detection at later stages associated with increased mortality and morbidity. The impact of cancer stage on patient-reported outcomes is poorly understood. This research aimed to understand symptom burden and health related quality of life (HRQoL) impact by cancer stage for ten cancer types: 1) ovarian, 2) lung, 3) pancreatic, 4) esophageal, 5) stomach, 6) head and neck, 7) colorectal, 8) anal, 9) cervical, and 10) liver and bile duct.

METHODS

Ten narrative literature reviews were performed to identify and collate published literature on patient burden at different stages of disease progression. Literature searches were conducted using an AI-assisted platform to identify relevant articles published in the last five (2017-2022) or ten years (2012-2022) where articles were limited. Conference abstracts were searched for the last two years (2020-2022). The geographic scope was limited to the United States, Canada, Europe, and global studies, and only journal articles written in English were included.

RESULTS

A total of 26 studies with results stratified by cancer stage at diagnosis (and before treatment) were selected for the cancer types of lung, pancreatic, esophageal, stomach, head and neck, colorectal, anal, and cervical cancers. Two cancer types, ovarian cancer, and liver and bile duct cancer did not return any search results with outcomes stratified by disease stage. A general trend was observed for worse patient-reported outcomes in patients with cancer diagnosed at an advanced stage of disease compared with diagnosis at an earlier stage. Advanced disease stage was associated with greater symptom impact including general physical impairments such as pain, fatigue, and interference with functioning, as well as disease/region-specific symptom burden. Poorer HRQoL was also associated with advanced disease with commonly reported symptoms including anxiety and depression.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the general trend for greater symptom burden and poorer HRQoL seen in late stage versus early-stage disease across the included cancer types supports the importance for early diagnosis and treatment to improve patient survival and decrease negative impacts on disease burden and HRQoL.

Symptom clusters in oncology outpatients: stability and consistency across a cycle of chemotherapy

OBJECTIVES

Improved understanding of the stability and consistency of symptom clusters across time, symptom dimensions and cancer diagnoses will lead to refinements in symptom assessments and management, and provide direction for mechanistic studies. Study purposes were to describe the occurrence, severity and distress of 38 symptoms; evaluate the stability and consistency of symptom clusters across a cycle of chemotherapy, three symptom dimensions and four distinct cancer types; and identify common and distinct symptom clusters.

METHODS

Oncology outpatients (n=1329) completed the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale prior to their next cycle of chemotherapy (T1), 1 week after chemotherapy (T2) and 2 weeks after chemotherapy (T3). Symptom clusters were identified using exploratory factor analysis using unweighted least squares. GEOMIN rotated factor loadings with absolute values ≥0.40 were considered meaningful. Clusters were stable if they were identified across each time point and/or dimension. Clusters were consistent if the same two or three symptoms with the highest factor loadings were identified across each time point and/or dimension.

RESULTS

Patients reported 13.9 (±7.2) symptoms at T1, 14.0 (±7.0) at T2 and 12.2 (±6.8) at T3. Psychological, weight gain, gastrointestinal and respiratory clusters were stable across time and dimensions. Only the psychological, weight gain and respiratory clusters were consistent across time and dimensions.

CONCLUSION

Given the stability of the psychological, weight gain and gastrointestinal clusters across cancer diagnoses, symptoms within these clusters need to be routinely assessed. However, respiratory and hormonal clusters are unique to specific cancer types and the symptoms within these clusters are variable.

The role of the nurse in meeting the educational needs for self-care in cachectic cancer patients and their family caregivers: A scoping review

Objective

To give an overview of what is known about the nurse contribution to education in self-care by people with cancer cachexia and their family caregivers. Nurse-led patient education can help patients and their family caregivers to manage cancer symptoms, cancer treatments, and treatment side effects.

Methods

This scoping review explored the extent to which nurse-led education has become part of the multimodal management of cancer cachexia. It is based on a systematic search of Medline, Embase, CINAHL, APA PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library. Search limits were English language, date ranges from January 2015 to March 2023, and adults 18 years and older.

Results

A total of 6370 titles were screened, 127 papers and conference abstracts were selected for full-text examination, and 9 publications were included in the review. The analysis found the nurses within the multidisciplinary cancer cachexia care team, like other healthcare professionals, do not have a shared understanding of cancer cachexia and its management. For nurses to be confident and competent in the provision of nurse-led cachexia education, they themselves need evidence-based education in cachexia care and how to tailor education according to cachexia stage, symptoms, emotional response, and social circumstance.

Conclusions

Nurses with the knowledge and confidence to provide cancer cachexia education for their patients can potentially play an important role in the management of cancer cachexia and mitigation of cachexia-related problems.

The Role of Nurse in the Multidisciplinary Management of Cancer Cachexia

Cancer cachexia is a complex syndrome for which multidisciplinary management through collaboration has the potential to improve patient outcomes and efficiency of care, through the integration of nursing into practice. These authors conducted a literature review of PubMed, EBSCO, OVID, and ProQuest for publications on the roles and responsibilities of nurses who are working in multidisciplinary teams for the management of cancer cachexia. We limited our search parameters for the literature review such that: (1) the included papers were published in the English language from January 2000 to February 2021 and (2) the included papers featured an adult patient population. Based on this review, cancer cachexia can be characterized as an involuntary loss of body weight that is combined with a dysregulation in the control of energy homeostasis and protein loss, which leads to poor clinical outcomes in patients. Cancer cachexia has been recognized as having multidimensional etiologies that are related to the nutritional and metabolic systems, as well as other physical and physiological systems, and to symptoms that manifest concurrently to the cachexia. While the clinical identification and taxonomic classification of cancer cachexia are usually associated with an observable degree of weight loss and muscular atrophy in a patient, clinical evidence of inflammation and related symptoms should be considered (in addition to the weight loss and muscular atrophy) in the diagnosis and evaluation of cancer cachexia, as will be argued in this paper. Early diagnosis, appropriate clinical assessment, and evaluation of cancer cachexia are crucial to predicting the onset of the condition and managing its symptoms when it occurs. Various tools have been developed for the clinical evaluation and diagnosis of cancer cachexia which reflect the multitudinous manifestations of the condition. Due to the diversity of its manifestations, multimodal therapy has gained popularity for the management of cancer cachexia. Multimodal therapy includes combined pharmacologic intervention, nutrition supplements, nutritional consultation, physical exercise, and symptom control. As these authors will demonstrate in this paper, this mode of multidisciplinary team management is increasingly supported by scientific evidence and as such, can be seen as essential for high-quality cancer cachexia management. Nursing plays an important role in the multidisciplinary care team model for cancer cachexia management, as nurses are well situated to perform screening, referral, coordination, nutritional consultation, physical exercise consultation, direct nutritional nursing, psychosocial support, symptom control, and hospice care. However, an increased focus on education, skills training, and tool development (as well as adoption of tools) on the part of nurses and other multidisciplinary team members is required to meet the goal of efficient care and improved outcomes for patients with cancer cachexia. These authors demonstrate that increasing roles and responsibilities for nurses in the management of cancer cachexia is a valuable area to explore in the literature and to implement in clinical practice. Our review aims to summarize the etiology and epidemiology, mechanisms-of-action, and multitudinous manifestations of cancer cachexia, the therapies that are used in cancer cachexia care and the management approaches by which this care is organized. Finally, these authors emphasize nurses' responsibilities in this mode of cancer cachexia multidisciplinary team management, which represents a fruitful benefit both in the research literature and in clinical settings.

Nutritional Risk in Cancer Patients 65 and Older Undergoing Systemic Phase I Treatment

Malnutrition is common in cancer patients and recognized as an important component of adverse outcomes, including increased morbidity, mortality, and decreased quality of life (QOL). Quality of life is an overarching term for quality of various domains of life. It is a standard level that consists of the expectations of an individual for a good life. These expectations are guided by values, goals, and sociocultural context. It is a subjective, multidimensional concept defining a standard level for emotional, physical, material, and social well-being (Bottomley, 2012). Nutritional risk is not consistently assessed in the older adult cancer patient population. The purpose of this secondary analysis was to identify variables related to nutritional risk in the cancer patient 65 years and older receiving systemic treatments. The study described the relationship between nutritional risk and four domains of QOL (physical, social, emotional, and functional). A sample of 73 patients was accrued for this study from an NCI-funded RO1 aimed at integrating supportive care for cancer patients. The Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form instrument was used to assess for nutritional risk. Findings revealed the strongest correlation with nutritional risk was BMI status (r = .47, p < .0001). Multiple regression analysis demonstrated factors associated with nutritional risk included BMI, previous chemotherapy, and physical subscale of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General QOL instrument. Descriptive data reinforced the importance of assessment and intervention to support nutritional status. Nutrition impacts all dimensions of QOL and is even more important in an aging population. Advanced practitioners can contribute greatly to advancing this area of practice.

Clinical Framework for Quality Improvement of Cancer Cachexia

The objective of this article is to introduce the Clinical Framework for Quality Improvement of Cancer Cachexia (Cachexia Care Framework) as a tool to demonstrate the relevance of integrating the clinical components of cancer cachexia and the organizational strategies of a cancer institution on the quality of patient care and delivery of services throughout the cancer cachexia continuum. The data sources included peer-reviewed literature relevant to cancer cachexia and quality cancer care, and the authors’ expertise. The Cachexia Care Framework results from a combination of the international consensus definition of cancer cachexia, the Institute of Medicine report Ensuring Quality Cancer Care, and the authors’ experience with a cancer cachexia clinic. This framework is proposed as a guidance for oncology nurses and other healthcare providers to improve the quality of care of cancer cachexia patients. Specifically, the framework can be used by oncology nurses involved in the care of patients diagnosed with cancer cachexia either in direct patient care, administration, research, or education. Nurses can use the framework in clinical practice to identify specific assessments and interventions based on the cachexia stage of the patient; in nursing administration, the framework offers a wide view of potential errors that can happen and the opportunity to prevent them; in nursing research, the framework illustrates the several factors and processes that can impact patient outcomes; and in nursing education, the framework outlines the elements necessary to develop and implement a continuum education curriculum to educate the workforce of oncology nurses, and in the academic setting, an interprofessional curriculum to educate nurses and many other healthcare disciplines.