The Palliative Outcome Scale (POS) applied to clinical practice and research: an integrative review.

Objective: to identify and evaluate the evidence found in the international scientific literature on the application of the Palliative Outcome Scale (POS) in clinical practice and research in Palliative Care (PC).

Method: integrative literature review, through the search of publications in journals indexed in PubMed / MEDLINE, LILACS, SciELO and CINAHL databases, between the years 1999 and 2014.

Results: the final sample consisted of 11 articles.

Early integration of palliative care facilitates the discontinuation of anticancer treatment in women with advanced breast or gynecologic cancers.

Objectives: To evaluate some health indicators in women with advanced breast or gynecological cancers (ABGCs) after discontinuation of active cancer treatment in function of the model of care received.

Methods: This prospective study included patients who were discontinuing anticancer treatment to be followed up only with palliative care (PC). Patients who had been evaluated at least once in PC were categorized as the integrated care model (ICM); those who had not been consulted by the PC team before, as the traditional care model (TCM).

Further evaluation of the EORTC QLQ-C30 psychometric properties in a large Brazilian cancer patient cohort as a function of their educational status.

Purpose: The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) is considered a valid instrument for use in Brazil. However, the previous Brazilian validation study included only 30 lung cancer patients and only measured test-retest reliability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the EORTC QLQ-C30 in a sample of cancer patients at different educational levels who completed the instrument administered by an interviewer.

"There won't' be anything else...it's over": perceptions of women referred to palliative care only.

Background: It is not well-known how women with advanced breast and gynecological cancers cope with the transition to palliative care (PC) only, but we anticipate that this is a challenging situation for them.

Objective: To investigate women's understanding on the reasons of anticancer treatment withdrawal, their ideas about PC, and also perceptions of the communication of bad news.

Method: Twenty women were interviewed by a single researcher after being informed that their antineoplastic treatment would be discontinued and they would be exclusively monitored by PC staff.

Biologically based therapies are commonly self-prescribed by Brazilian women for the treatment of advanced breast cancer or its symptoms.

Purpose: Breast cancer (BC) might be associated with loss of function in affected patients, with a direct impact on their quality of life (QOL). Many women with metastatic BC seek relief of symptoms, including the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to cure cancer. The present study aimed to identify the pattern of CAM used by patients with metastatic BC and to assess the correlation between CAM use and scores on anxiety, depression, and QOL scales.

The Barretos short instrument for assessment of quality of life (BSIqol): development and preliminary validation in a cohort of cancer patients undergoing antineoplastic treatment.

Background: To be clinically useful, an instrument assessing health-related quality of life (HRQOL) should be easy to understand and quick to answer. Few instruments have been designed to be short, simple, and easily understandable by patients from all educational levels. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a brief general instrument developed to assess HRQOL.