Outcomes of a cancer-related fatigue clinic in a comprehensive cancer center.

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a significant issue for cancer patients and frequently precipitates increased stress and anxiety for patients and caregivers alike. CRF may present well after the initial phase of cancer diagnosis and treatment, regardless of whether the cancer is in remission, widely metastatic, or somewhere in between. Determining whether the etiology of fatigue is potentially reversible and whether it is an effect of treatment or another unrelated cause is often perplexing.

Fatigue and its risk factors in cancer patients who seek emergency care.

Cancer patients visiting the emergency center (EC) are seldom assessed or treated for severe fatigue, a common symptom in sick patients due to acute medical conditions arising from cancer and cancer treatment. We provide a profile of cancer-related fatigue within the EC setting. Using a single-item screening tool derived from the Brief Fatigue Inventory, 928 patients (636 with solid tumors, 292 with hematological malignancies) triaged in the EC of a tertiary cancer center rated their fatigue at its worst in the last 24 hours.

Treatment of aspergillosis in an immunocompetent patient: a multidisciplinary approach.

P.J. was a 69-year-old woman who was referred to a large cancer center for an evaluation of brain and lung masses presumed to be cancerous lesions.

Progressive disease in patients with cancer presenting to an emergency room with acute symptoms predicts short-term mortality.

Goals: Patients with symptomatic, advanced cancer continue to be referred late or not at all for hospice or palliative care. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to determine whether evidence of cancer progression is an independent predictor of short-term mortality in acutely symptomatic cancer patients.

Patients And Methods: We reviewed the records of 396 patients who visited the emergency center at a comprehensive cancer center in January 2000.

Outcomes of treatment pathways in outpatient treatment of low risk febrile neutropenic cancer patients.

Background: We treated low-risk febrile neutropenic cancer patients utilizing two standard outpatient antibiotic pathways: oral ampicillin/clavulanate (500 mg) and ciprofloxacin (500 mg) or intravenous ceftazidime (2 g) and clindamycin (600 mg) every 8 h. The objectives were to determine the success of outpatient treatment of low-risk febrile neutropenia, to identify factors predicting outpatient failure, and to determine mortality related to the febrile episode.

Methods: Eligibility criteria included solid tumor diagnosis, stable vital signs, temperature > or =38.

A cancer-related fatigue clinic: opportunities and challenges.

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is the most prevalent symptom of cancer, occurring in 60% to 90% of patients and surpassing pain in frequency. CRF may increase patients' anxieties and hamper their quality of life. We developed a CRF clinic in 1998 because we believed there needed to be a more focused effort on the education, evaluation, and treatment of CRF for our patients.