Publications by authors named "Mark O'Rourke"
Objectives: To explore cancer survivors' historical and current use of analgesics for chronic chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN).
Sample & Setting: 142 post-treatment cancer survivors who received neurotoxic chemotherapy and were experiencing moderate to severe CIPN.
Methods & Variables: Participants completed the Treatment-Induced Neuropathy Assessment Scale at baseline and reported all analgesics used to manage CIPN.
Background: Survivors of rectal cancer experience persistent bowel dysfunction after treatments. Dietary interventions may be an effective approach for symptom management and posttreatment diet quality. SWOG S1820 was a pilot randomized trial of the Altering Intake, Managing Symptoms in Rectal Cancer (AIMS-RC) intervention for bowel dysfunction in survivors of rectal cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Older adults with cancer have unique fall risk factors related to their disease and treatment such as polypharmacy and neurotoxic treatments. In this secondary analysis, we identified modifiable risk factors associated with future falls among older adults with advanced cancers.
Materials And Methods: Data were from the COACH study (ClinicalTrials.
Background: Malignant small bowel obstruction has a poor prognosis and is associated with multiple related symptoms. The optimal treatment approach is often unclear. We aimed to compare surgical versus non-surgical management with the aim to determine the optimal approach for managing malignant bowel obstruction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To evaluate whether treatment with single-agent docetaxel would result in longer survival than would best supportive care in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer who had previously been treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Secondary end points included assessment of response (docetaxel arm only), toxicity, and quality of life.
Unlabelled: PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with performance statuses of 0 to 2 and stage IIIB/IV non-small-cell lung cancer with either measurable or evaluable lesions were eligible for entry onto the study if they had undergone one or more platinum-based chemotherapy regimens and if they had adequate hematology and biochemistry parameters.
Background: Patients prefer medical communication including both hopefulness and realism, though health-care professional (HCPs) struggle to balance these. Providers could thus benefit from a detailed personal understanding of hope, allowing them to model and convey it to patients. Additionally, given that hope is associated with lower levels of burnout, HCPs may benefit from tools designed to enhance their own personal hopefulness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Combination programmed cell death protein 1/cytotoxic T-cell lymphocyte-4-blockade and dual BRAF/MEK inhibition have each shown significant clinical benefit in patients with -mutant metastatic melanoma, leading to broad regulatory approval. Little prospective data exist to guide the choice of either initial therapy or treatment sequence in this population. This study was conducted to determine which initial treatment or treatment sequence produced the best efficacy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Studies of clinician-patient communication have used varied, ad hoc measures for communication efficacy. We developed and validated the Self-Efficacy for Medical Communication (SEMC) scale as a standard, quantitative measure of clinician-reported skills in communicating difficult news.
Methods: Using evidence-based scale development guidelines, we created two 16-item forms of the SEMC, one assessing communication with patients and one assessing communication with families.
Importance: A poor prognostic understanding regarding curability is associated with lower odds of hospice use among patients with cancer. However, the association between poor prognostic understanding or prognostic discordance and health care use among older adults with advanced incurable cancers is not well characterized.
Objective: To evaluate the association of poor prognostic understanding and patient-oncologist prognostic discordance with hospitalization and hospice use among older adults with advanced cancers.
Background: Financial toxicity is a growing problem in oncology, but no prior studies have prospectively measured the financial impact of cancer treatment in a diverse national cohort of newly diagnosed cancer patients. S1417CD was the first cooperative group-led multicenter prospective cohort study to evaluate financial hardship in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients.
Methods: Patients aged 18 years or older within 120 days of mCRC diagnosis completed quarterly questionnaires for 12 months.
Background: Hopefulness, whether inherently present (dispositional hope) or augmented (by enhancement techniques), may affect outcomes. This study was performed to determine the association of dispositional hope with survival among patients diagnosed with advanced cancer.
Methods: Data from ENABLE (Educate, Nurture, Advise, Before Life Ends), a palliative care intervention, were reanalyzed to determine the association of higher dispositional hope and patient survival.
Purpose: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an established prognostic factor for mortality; however, it is unclear if HRQOL is predictive of time to disease progression, a particularly meaningful outcome for patients. We examined the association between HRQOL and progression-free survival (PFS) in SWOG Cancer Research Network clinical trials.
Methods: For this secondary analysis, we reviewed all completed SWOG clinical trials to identify those for patients with advanced cancer that incorporated Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) questionnaires at baseline.
Background: Aging-related deficits that eventually manifest as frailty may be associated with poor emotional health in older patients with advanced cancer. This study aimed to examine the relationship between frailty and emotional health in this population.
Methods: This was a secondary analysis of baseline data from a nationwide cluster randomized trial.
Article Synopsis
- The NRG/RTOG 9804 trial is the first randomized study comparing whole breast irradiation to observation after lumpectomy in women with low-risk ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
- Out of 636 women studied over a median follow-up of 13.9 years, those receiving radiation therapy (RT) showed a significantly lower incidence of ipsilateral breast recurrence (IBR) at 15 years compared to those under observation (OBS).
- The findings suggest that RT reduces the risk of IBR, but the results are meant to guide discussions between patients and doctors rather than serve as a definitive mandate for treatment.
Purpose: Persistent breast cancer disparities, particularly geographic disparities, may be explained by diagnostic practice patterns such as utilization of needle biopsy, a National Quality Forum-endorsed quality metric for breast cancer diagnosis. Our objective was to assess the relationship between patient- and facility-level factors and needle biopsy receipt among women with non-metastatic breast cancer in the United States.
Methods: We examined characteristics of women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2004 and 2015 in the National Cancer Database.
Background: Caregiver perceived autonomy support by the oncologist is important for caregiver well-being and may be affected by the patient's survival. We determined the association of caregiver-oncologist discordance in patient's life expectancy estimates with perceived autonomy support over time and whether the association differed by patient survival status.
Materials And Methods: We used data from a geriatric assessment cluster-randomized trial (URCC 13070) that recruited patients aged at least 70 years with incurable cancer considering or receiving treatment, their caregivers, and their oncologists.
Purpose: Patient-reported outcomes may be associated with cancer outcomes. We evaluated clinically significant fatigue (CSF), overall survival, adverse events (AEs), and quality of life (QOL) during cancer treatment.
Methods: We compared outcomes in four phase II or III chemotherapy trials, two advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and two advanced hormone-refractory prostate cancer, with or without baseline CSF.
Purpose: Older patients with advanced cancer often have comorbidities that can worsen their cancer and treatment outcomes. We assessed how a geriatric assessment (GA)-guided intervention can guide conversations about comorbidities among patients, oncologists, and caregivers.
Methods: This secondary analysis arose from a nationwide, multisite cluster-randomized trial (ClinicalTrials.
Importance: Total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) is often used to downstage locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) and decrease locoregional relapse; however, more than one-third of patients develop recurrent metastatic disease. As such, novel combinations are needed.
Objective: To assess whether the addition of pembrolizumab during and after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy can lead to an improvement in the neoadjuvant rectal (NAR) score compared with treatment with FOLFOX (5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) and chemoradiotherapy alone.
Purpose: Although hope has been explored in patients, few studies have investigated hopefulness in health care professionals. We surveyed oncology professionals within the SWOG Cancer Research Network, exploring relationships among personal hopefulness, social support, work stress, burnout, and life satisfaction. We hypothesized that hope would mediate the relationships between these other variables and life satisfaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLessons Learned: Disease control with signals of response were demonstrated, which should lead to future validating clinical trials using checkpoint inhibitors in this underserved rare malignancy population. Although the study of single types of rare cancers is practically challenging, clinical trial designs that aggregate such patients into cohorts treated similarly are feasible, even in the community setting.
Background: Patients with rare cancers are an underserved population with limited access to clinical trials aside from phase I trials in the refractory setting.
Aims: We evaluated the potential effect of sonidegib at an oral dose of 800 mg once daily (QD) on the pharmacokinetics (PK) of the probe drugs warfarin (CYP2C9) and bupropion (CYP2B6).
Methods: This was a multicentre, open-label study to evaluate the effect of sonidegib on the PK of the probe drugs warfarin and bupropion in patients with advanced solid tumours. Cohort 1 patients received a single warfarin 15-mg dose on Day 1 of the run-in period and on Cycle 2 Day 22 (C2D22) of sonidegib administration.