Providing nutritional support to patients with thoracic cancer: findings of a dedicated rehabilitation service.

Background: National guidelines recommend screening patients with thoracic cancer to identify those requiring nutritional support. To help quantify this area of need, the associated workload and explore its impact, we report findings from a dedicated rehabilitation service.

Methods: Patients were screened soon after diagnosis to determine the prevalence of malnutrition, and various aspects compared between malnourished and not malnourished groups.

How practical are transmucosal fentanyl products for breakthrough cancer pain? Novel use of placebo formulations to survey user opinion.

Background: Three transmucosal fentanyl products have recently been licensed for cancer-related breakthrough pain: a sublingual tablet, a buccal/sublingual tablet and a nasal spray. Limited comparative data hinder identifying the most appropriate to use and adopt onto a service formulary. However, the availability of placebo formulations provides a unique opportunity to compare the practical aspects of their use.