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Purpose: Little research has assessed cancer patients' success criteria and priorities for symptom improvement to inform patient-centered care. Thus, we modified and tested a measure of these constructs for advanced lung cancer patients. We compared acceptable severity levels following symptom treatment across eight symptoms and identified patient subgroups based on symptom importance. Methods: Advanced lung cancer patients (N=102) completed a one-time survey, including the modified Patient-Centered Outcomes Questionnaire (PCOQ), standard symptom measures, and other clinical characteristics. Results: The modified PCOQ showed evidence of construct validity through associations with theoretically related constructs. Symptom severity and importance were moderately correlated. Levels of acceptable symptom severity were low and did not differ across the eight symptoms. Four patient subgroups were identified: (1) those who rated all symptoms as low in importance (n=12); (2) those who rated bronchial symptoms and sleep problems as low in importance and all other symptoms as moderately important (n=29); (3) those who rated nausea and emotional distress as low in importance and all other symptoms as moderately important (n=23); and (4) those who rated all symptoms as highly important (n=33). Subgroups were unrelated to clinical characteristics, except for functional status. Conclusion: The modified PCOQ showed evidence of construct validity. Patients considered low symptom severity to be acceptable, irrespective of the symptom. Findings suggest that symptom severity and importance are related yet distinct aspects of the advanced lung cancer symptom experience. Patients have heterogeneous priorities for symptom improvement, which has implications for tailoring treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the leading cause of death from cancer worldwide, is a debilitating disease that results in a high burden of symptoms and poor quality of life; the estimated prognosis after the diagnosis has been established was less than 1 year until some years ago. At the present, the new targeted therapies and immunotherapy are changing the course of the disease. However, advanced NSCLC remains an incurable disease, with a poor prognosis for the majority of the affected patients, so that quality of life and relief from symptoms are primary objectives of treatment. Some evidences suggest that early palliative care (EPC) for these patients can improve quality of life and even survival.Design: A systematic review of the studies evaluating the impact on objective and on patient-reported outcomes of the introduction of EPC in opposition to standard care (SC), for advanced lung cancer patients, was performed. Because of the small number of studies conducted in this area, retrospective studies were also considered for the review.Results: Five studies were included because they matched the inclusion criteria previously defined as relevant for the study. The review found that both survival and quality of life were better for patients included in EPC groups.Conclusions: While results of the studies included in this review are not always comparable because different methods and scales have been used, there is enough evidence for clinical oncologists to implement the use of EPC in clinical practice for advanced lung cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]