Considerations to forgo systemic treatment in patients with advanced esophageal or gastric cancer: A real-world evidence study.

The majority of patients with advanced esophageal or gastric cancer do not start palliative systemic treatment. To gain insight into the considerations underlying the decision not to start systemic treatment, we analyzed characteristics of patients starting and not starting systemic treatment, reasons for not starting systemic treatment, and receipt of local palliative treatments on a nationwide scale. Patients diagnosed with advanced esophageal or gastric cancer between 2015 and 2021 were included (n = 10,948).

Guidelines versus real-world data in metastatic bladder cancer: A population-based study on first-line chemotherapy treatment patterns.

Background: For patients with metastatic bladder cancer (mBC) palliative chemotherapy is one of the main treatment options. Real-world insights into outcomes are available, but a comprehensive overview of specific treatment details like number of chemotherapy cycles received and (reasons for) adjustments is lacking.

Methods: A population-based study was conducted, including all patients diagnosed with mBC in the Netherlands between 2016 and 2021 who started chemotherapy as initial treatment.

"Are you listening?": Experiences shared online by family caregivers of patients in the palliative phase during the Covid-19-pandemic.

Objectives: In palliative care, it is important for family caregivers to spend time with and care for the patient, and to receive (in)formal support. These elements were compromised during the Covid-19-pandemic. This study investigates what family caregivers of non-Covid-19-patients in the palliative phase shared online during the first wave of the pandemic, and what their communicative intentions were with posting online.

What do family caregivers of patients with life-threatening diseases need from healthcare professionals? A qualitative study.

Objectives: To explore the common ground of what family caregivers need in their various roles (caregiver, care recipient and patient's partner, child or friend) from healthcare professionals across healthcare settings and disease trajectories.

Design: Interviews were conducted with family caregivers of patients with life-threatening diseases who were treated at home, in hospitals, nursing homes or hospices between 2017 and 2022. Reflexive thematic analysis was performed.

Attention to the Values, Wishes and Needs of Patients With Advanced Cancer by Hospital Clinicians, an Exploratory Qualitative Study.

Insight into patients' personal values, wishes, and needs (VWN) by clinicians is essential to guide appropriate palliative care. To gain insight into the exploration and monitoring of the VWN of patients with advanced cancer during the illness trajectory by hospital oncology clinicians. A generic qualitative study was conducted from February 2022 to July 2022.

Combinatory Use of hLF(1-11), a Synthetic Peptide Derived from Human Lactoferrin, and Fluconazole/Amphotericin B against Reveals a Synergistic/Additive Antifungal Effect.

Objective: The increasing resistance of yeasts against commonly used antifungal drugs dictates the need for novel antifungal compounds. Human lactoferrin-based peptides show a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activities. Various assays were performed to find the optimal growth conditions of the yeasts and to assess cell viability, using media with low lipid content to avoid peptide binding to medium components.

Potentially Inappropriate End of Life Care and Healthcare Costs in the Last 30 Days of Life in Regions Providing Integrated Palliative Care in the Netherlands: A Registration-based Study.

Introduction: This study aimed to assess the effect of integrated palliative care (IPC) on potentially inappropriate end- of-life care and healthcare-costs in the last 30 days of life in the Netherlands.

Methods: Nationwide health-insurance claims data were used to assess potentially inappropriate end-of-life care (≥2 emergency room visits; ≥2 hospital admissions; >14 days hospitalization; chemotherapy; ICU admission; hospital death) and healthcare-costs in all deceased adults in IPC regions pre- and post- implementation and in those receiving IPC compared to a 1:2 matched control group.

Results: In regions providing IPC deceased adults (n = 37,468) received significantly less potentially inappropriate end-of-life care post-implementation compared to pre-implementation (26.

Characteristics of timely integration of palliative care into oncology hospital care for patients with incurable cancer: results of a Delphi Study.

Purpose: To identify elements of timely integration of palliative care (PC) into hospital oncology care from best practices. Thereafter, to assess the level of consensus among oncology and PC specialists and patient and relative representatives on the characteristics of timely integration of PC.

Methods: A three-round modified Delphi study was conducted.

Association between Inappropriate End-of-Life Cancer Care and Specialist Palliative Care: A Retrospective Observational Study in Two Acute Care Hospitals.

A substantial number of patients with life-threatening illnesses like cancer receive inappropriate end-of-life care. Improving their quality of end-of-life care is a priority for patients and their families and for public health. To investigate the association between provision, timing, and initial setting of hospital-based specialist palliative care and potentially inappropriate end-of-life care for patients with cancer in two acute care hospitals in the Netherlands, we conducted a retrospective observational study using hospital administrative databases.

Stereotactic Body and Conventional Radiotherapy for Painful Bone Metastases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Importance: Conventional external beam radiotherapy (cEBRT) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) are commonly used treatment options for relieving metastatic bone pain. The effectiveness of SBRT compared with cEBRT in pain relief has been a subject of debate, and conflicting results have been reported.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness associated with SBRT vs cEBRT for relieving metastatic bone pain.

Continuity of care for patients with de novo metastatic cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic: A population-based observational study.

During the COVID-19 pandemic recommendations were made to adapt cancer care. This population-based study aimed to investigate possible differences between the treatment of patients with metastatic cancer before and during the pandemic by comparing the initial treatments in five COVID-19 periods (weeks 1-12 2020: pre-COVID-19, weeks 12-20 2020: 1st peak, weeks 21-41 2020: recovery, weeks 42-53 2020: 2nd peak, weeks 1-20 2021: prolonged 2nd peak) with reference data from 2017 to 2019. The proportion of patients receiving different treatment modalities (chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapy, radiotherapy primary tumor, resection primary tumor, resection metastases) within 6 weeks of diagnosis and the time between diagnosis and first treatment were compared by period.

A microbial risk assessor's guide to Valley Fever (Coccidioides spp.): Case study and review of risk factors.

Valley Fever is a respiratory disease caused by inhalation of arthroconidia, a type of spore produced by fungi within the genus Coccidioides spp. which are found in dry, hot ecosystems of the Western Hemisphere. A quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) for the disease has not yet been performed due to a lack of dose-response models and a scarcity of quantitative occurrence data from environmental samples.

Reduction in potentially inappropriate end-of-life hospital care for cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective population-based study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted cancer diagnosis and treatment. However, little is known about end-of-life cancer care during the pandemic.

Aim: To investigate potentially inappropriate end-of-life hospital care for cancer patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quality of life issues in patients with bone metastases: A systematic review.

Introduction: Bones are frequent sites of metastatic disease, observed in 30-75% of advanced cancer patients. Quality of life (QoL) is an important endpoint in studies evaluating the treatments of bone metastases (BM), and many patient-reported outcome tools are available. The primary objective of this systematic review was to compile a list of QoL issues relevant to BM and its interventions.

Barriers and facilitators that hospital clinicians perceive to discuss the personal values, wishes, and needs of patients in palliative care: a mixed-methods systematic review.

Background: The exploration and monitoring of the personal values, wishes, and needs (VWN) of patients in the palliative phase by hospital clinicians is essential for guiding appropriate palliative care.

Objective: To explore the barriers and facilitators concerning communication with patients in the palliative phase about their VWN as perceived by hospital clinicians.

Design: A mixed-methods systematic review following the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines for mixed-method systematic reviews and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines was conducted (PROSPERO ID: CRD42021216693).

Referrals to Palliative Care Services for Hospitalised COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Literature Review.

Background: The increase in the incidence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) led to more hospital admissions and deaths, and coincided with an increased need for palliative care. The new circumstances required palliative care services to be flexible and to develop response strategies.

Aim: To synthesise studies including COVID-19 patients to gain insight into how many patients were referred to hospital-based palliative care services, the characteristics and palliative care needs of these patients and the reasons for referral.

Trajectories of health-related quality of life and symptom burden in patients with advanced cancer towards the end of life: Longitudinal results from the eQuiPe study.

Background: Support for health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an essential part of cancer care in the final stages of life, yet empirical guidance regarding HRQOL and symptom trajectories is lacking.

Aim: To assess the change in HRQOL and symptom burden in the last year of life in patients with advanced cancer and its association with health care-related factors, cancer-specific treatment, and comorbidity.

Methods: A prospective, multicenter, observational study in patients with advanced cancer (eQuiPe).

Re-irradiation in clinical practice: Results of an international patterns of care survey within the framework of the ESTRO-EORTC E-RADIatE platform.

Background: Re-irradiation is an increasingly utilized treatment for recurrent, metastatic or new malignancies after previous radiotherapy. It is unclear how re-irradiation is applied in clinical practice. We aimed to investigate the patterns of care of re-irradiation internationally.

Dry mouth in patients with a life-limiting condition or frailty: a study protocol for two intervention studies and a nested qualitative sub-study (the Dry mOuth Project, DROP).

Background: Despite its prevalent and impactful nature, dry mouth remains an underexposed and undertreated symptom in patients with a life-limiting condition or frailty. The main contributing factors are a lack of awareness and knowledge amongst both healthcare professionals and patients, and a scarcity of effective, evidence-based interventions. In the DRy mOuth Project (DROP), we address these factors by investigating both a non-pharmacological and a pharmacological intervention: a nurse-led patient education program and locally applied pilocarpine.