LUNG CANCER
Comprehensive symptom management in patients with advanced-stage non-small-cell lung cancer.
Source
Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA. jtemel@partners.orgAbstract
Although
we have made steady improvements in the survival rates of patients with
advanced-stage lung cancer, the majority of patients still experience
distress and suffering.
Although the symptom burden is greatest in patients in the end stages of life, many patients living with lung cancer suffer from troubling symptoms and side effects of therapy.
Even long-term survivors with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) often experience respiratory symptoms, such as dyspnea and cough.
Because of the high prevalence of NSCLC and the frequency with which it presents in an incurable stage, symptom management is a large component of the care of these patients. Dyspnea, cough, fatigue, anorexia/cachexia, and pain are the most common symptoms in patients with advanced-stage NSCLC.
Cancer-directed therapy can improve some of these symptoms but often incompletely and temporarily.
Therefore, comprehensive care of patients with advanced-stage NSCLC must include therapies targeted at these difficult and distressing symptoms.
Clin Lung Cancer. 2006 Jan;7(4):241-9.
Although the symptom burden is greatest in patients in the end stages of life, many patients living with lung cancer suffer from troubling symptoms and side effects of therapy.
Even long-term survivors with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) often experience respiratory symptoms, such as dyspnea and cough.
Because of the high prevalence of NSCLC and the frequency with which it presents in an incurable stage, symptom management is a large component of the care of these patients. Dyspnea, cough, fatigue, anorexia/cachexia, and pain are the most common symptoms in patients with advanced-stage NSCLC.
Cancer-directed therapy can improve some of these symptoms but often incompletely and temporarily.
Therefore, comprehensive care of patients with advanced-stage NSCLC must include therapies targeted at these difficult and distressing symptoms.
Clin Lung Cancer. 2006 Jan;7(4):241-9.
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