Health-related quality of life measured with K-BILD is associated with survival in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) assessments and estimates of prognosis are needed for comprehensive care and planning of subsequent treatment in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We investigated HRQoL and its association with survival using a disease-specific tool in patients with IPF.

Methods: The patients were recruited from the real-life FinnishIPF study in 2015.

End-of-Life Care and Use of Hospital Resources in Radiotherapy-Treated Cancer Patients with Brain Metastases: A Single-Institution Retrospective Study.

Purpose: The aim of this single-institution retrospective study of patients treated with radiotherapy for brain metastases (BM) was to evaluate the timing of the palliative care (PC) decision, the use of health care services, i.e., emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations, and the implementation of radiotherapy at the end of life (EOL).

Long-term effects of aromatase inhibitor withdrawal on bone mineral density in early breast cancer patients: 10-year follow-up results of the BREX study.

Purpose: We aimed to provide long-term bone mineral density (BMD) data on early breast cancer patients of the BREX (Breast Cancer and Exercise) study. The effects of exercise and adjuvant endocrine treatment 10 years after randomization were analyzed, with special emphasis on aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy discontinuation at 5 years.

Methods: The BREX study randomized 573 pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer patients into a 1-year supervised exercise program or a control group.

The effect of palliative outpatient units on resource use for cancer patients in Finland.

Background: As cancer incidences are increasing, the means to provide effective palliative care (PC) are called for. There is evidence, that PC may prevent futile treatment at the end of life (EOL) thus implicating that PC decreases resource use at the EOL, however, the effects of outpatient PC units remain largely unknown. We surveyed the national use of Finnish tertiary care PC units and their effects on resource use at the EOL in real-life environments.

Dyspnea Associates With a Widely Impaired Quality of Life in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients: A Longitudinal Study Using 15D.

Research on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is crucial for developing comprehensive palliative care in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). To study IPF patients' HRQoL compared with general population and its association with dyspnea in a longitudinal follow-up. Assessment of IPF patients' HRQoL by a generic tool.

Chemoradiation for oesophageal cancer: the choice of treatment modality.

Background: Locally advanced oesophageal cancer can be treated with definitive chemoradiation (dCRT) or with neoadjuvant chemoradiation followed by surgery (nCRT + S), but treatment modality choice is not always clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors associated with the choice of treatment modality in locally advanced oesophageal cancer.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 149 patients treated with dCRT(n = 85) or nCRT + S (n = 64) for oesophageal cancer in Helsinki University Hospital in 2008-2018.

Post-graduate Course in Palliative Medicine: Experiences from an E-Learning-Based Pilot Program, a Mixed Methods Study.

To study whether E-learning methods are feasible in the post-graduate education of palliative medicine. A mixed-methods study. Evaluations from pilot course attendees were analyzed numerically and answers to open-ended questions about E-learning were analyzed using inductive content analysis.

Effect of palliative care decisions making on hospital service use at end-of-life in patients with malignant brain tumors: a retrospective study.

Background: Palliative care (PC) improves Quality of life and reduces the symptom burden. Aggressive treatments at end of life (EOL) postpone PC. The aim of this single-center retrospective study was to evaluate the timing of the PC decision i.

Mindfulness is associated with improved psychological well-being but no change in stress biomarkers in breast cancer survivors with depression: a single group clinical pilot study.

Background: The aim of this clinical single group pilot study was to assess mental well-being, psychological symptoms, and a set of stress biomarkers among breast cancer survivors with high depressive symptoms undergoing the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program.

Methods: Participants included 23 curatively treated breast cancer survivors from the Helsinki University Central Hospital with clinically significant symptoms of depression (Beck Depression Inventory > 13, and assessed by a psychiatrist), at 1-year post-operative follow-up. Mental wellbeing and psychological symptoms were assessed with self-reported questionnaires (Resilience Scale, Self-Compassion Scale, Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, World Health Organization Quality of Life-questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Insomnia Severity Index); in addition, stress response was assessed with biomarkers (cortisol, adrenocorticotropine, and high-sensitivity-CRP from blood; 24 h-cortisol from urine).

Effect of Palliative Care Decision on Use of Hospital Services in Pancreatic Cancer Patients: A Retrospective Study.

Background/aim: Continuing chemotherapy or using hospital services near the end of life (EOL) and delaying the approach to palliative care (PC) services are factors impairing quality of life near the EOL.

Patients And Methods: Records of patients with pancreatic cancer treated at Helsinki University Hospital in 2013 and deceased by the end of 2014 were reviewed (N=221). The PC decision establishes the point when anticancer treatment is interrupted and the focus shifts to symptom-centered PC.

End-of-life care of patients with esophageal or gastric cancer: decision making and the goal of care.

Background: Overall survival (OS) with advanced esophageal or gastric cancer is poor. To avoid overly aggressive treatments at the end-of-life and assure adequate end-of-life quality, the decision to focus on symptom-centered palliative care (PC) and terminate anticancer treatments, i.e.

Factors predicting long-term physical activity of breast cancer survivors. 5-year-follow-up of the BREX exercise intervention study.

Background: The benefits of exercise training are well documented among breast cancer (BC) survivors. Patients decrease their physical activity during treatment, and many fail to regain their previous exercise levels. There is therefore a need to define factors supporting long-term physical activity behavior in this patient group, to target supporting interventions aimed at preventing the decline in physical activity (PA).

Health-Related Quality of Life in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients Treated with Curative Resection and/or Local Ablative Therapy or Systemic Therapy in the Finnish RAXO-Study.

Metastasectomy and/or local ablative therapy in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients often provide long-term survival. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) data in curatively treated mCRC are limited. In the RAXO-study that evaluated repeated resectability, a multi-cross-sectional HRQoL substudy with 15D, EQ-5D-3L, QLQ-C30, and QLQ-CR29 questionnaires was conducted.

A graphical LASSO analysis of global quality of life, sub scales of the EORTC QLQ-C30 instrument and depression in early breast cancer.

We aimed to (a) investigate the interplay between depression, symptoms and level of functioning, and (b) understand the paths through which they influence health related quality of life (QOL) during the first year of rehabilitation period of early breast cancer. A network analysis method was used. The population consisted of 487 women aged 35-68 years, who had recently completed adjuvant chemotherapy or started endocrine therapy for early breast cancer.

Sense of Coherence as Predictor of Quality of Life in Early Breast Cancer Patients.

Background/aim: To examine the association between sense of coherence (SOC) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in early breast cancer patients.

Patients And Methods: The study population included 406 disease-free breast cancer survivors who participated in 3-year and 5-year follow-ups of a randomized exercise intervention. SOC was assessed using the short version of the Orientation to life questionnaire (SOC-13) in the 3-year follow-up.

Long-term health-related quality of life of breast cancer survivors remains impaired compared to the age-matched general population especially in young women. Results from the prospective controlled BREX exercise study.

Objective: To investigate long-term health-related quality of life (HRQoL) changes over time in younger compared to older disease-free breast cancer survivors who participated in a prospective randomized exercise trial.

Methods: Survivors (aged 35-68 years) were randomized to a 12-month exercise trial after adjuvant treatment and followed up for ten years. HRQoL was assessed with the generic 15D instrument during follow-up and the younger (baseline age ≤ 50) and older (age >50) survivors' HRQoL was compared to that of the age-matched general female population (n = 892).

Impact of the Regional Palliative Care Pathway on Emergency Room Visits and Hospitalizations.

Background/aim: To explore the effect of palliative care (PC) pathway including home care and end-of-life care beds in the community hospitals supported by a PC unit in the secondary hospital on ER visits and hospitalizations.

Patients And Methods: Patients with advanced cancer and no further oncologic therapies who visited the ER of the Hyvinkää hospital before (2009) and after (2015) the establishment of the PC pathway were evaluated.

Results: A total of 112 patients visited the ER in both years, but revisits decreased from 59% to 38% (p<0.

Factor analysis identifies three separate symptom clusters in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Unlabelled: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a severe and progressive lung disease with a poor prognosis. Patients with IPF suffer from a high symptom burden, which impairs their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Lack of research on IPF symptoms and their clustering, however, makes symptom-centred care challenging.

A Nordic survey of the management of palliative care in patients with head and neck cancer.

Background: The five Nordic countries with a population of 27M people form a rather homogenous region in terms of health care. The management of Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) is centralized to the 21 university hospitals in these countries. Our aim was to survey the current status of organization of palliative care for patients with HNC in the Nordic countries as the field is rapidly developing.

The required competencies of physicians within palliative care from the perspectives of multi-professional expert groups: a qualitative study.

Background: Although statements on the competencies required from physicians working within palliative care exist, these requirements have not been described within different levels of palliative care provision by multi-professional workshops, comprising representatives from working life. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the competencies required from physicians working within palliative care from the perspectives of multi-professional groups of representatives from working life.

Methods: A qualitative approach, using a workshop method, was conducted, wherein the participating professionals and representatives of patient organizations discussed the competencies that are required in palliative care, before reaching and documenting a consensus.

The requirements of a specialist breast centre.

This article is an update of the requirements of a specialist breast centre, produced by EUSOMA and endorsed by ECCO as part of Essential Requirements for Quality Cancer Care (ERQCC) programme, and ESMO. To meet aspirations for comprehensive cancer control, healthcare organisations must consider the requirements in this article, paying particular attention to multidisciplinarity and patient-centred pathways from diagnosis, to treatment, to survivorship.

The impact of the duration of the palliative care period on cancer patients with regard to the use of hospital services and the place of death: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: In order to avoid unnecessary use of hospital services at the end-of-life, palliative care should be initiated early enough in order to have sufficient time to initiate and carry out good quality advance care planning (ACP). This single center study assesses the impact of the PC decision and its timing on the use of hospital services at EOL and the place of death.

Methods: A randomly chosen cohort of 992 cancer patients treated in a tertiary hospital between Jan 2013 -Dec 2014, who were deceased by the end of 2014, were selected from the total number of 2737 identified from the hospital database.

ECCO Essential Requirements for Quality Cancer Care: Prostate cancer.

Background: ECCO Essential Requirements for Quality Cancer Care (ERQCC) are written by experts representing all disciplines involved in cancer care in Europe. They give oncology teams, patients, policymakers and managers an overview of essential care throughout the patient journey.

Prostate Cancer: Prostate cancer is the second most common male cancer and has a wide variation in outcomes in Europe.

Health-related Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Survivors Attending an Exercise Intervention Study: A Five-year Follow-up.

Background/aim: As the number of breast cancer survivors is increasing, their long-term health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has become an important issue. The aim of the study is to follow up the HRQoL of breast cancer survivors (BCS) in a prospective randomized exercise intervention study and to compare HRQoL to that of the age-matched general female population.

Patients And Methods: Following adjuvant treatment, 537 patients aged 35-68 and capable of exercise training were randomized to a 12-month exercise trial.

Assessing the utilization of the decision to implement a palliative goal for the treatment of cancer patients during the last year of life at Helsinki University Hospital: a historic cohort study.

To avoid aggressive treatments at the end-of-life and to provide palliative care (PC), physicians need to terminate futile anti-cancer treatments and define the palliative goal of the treatment in time. This single center study assesses the practices used to make the decision that leads to treatment with a palliative goal, i.e.