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Objective: Recognizing delirium phenomenology (DP) aids the early diagnosis of this syndrome and improves quality of life in patients with advanced cancer. The aim of this study was to identify the neurobehavioral and cognitive patterns of delirium-related symptoms in persons with advanced cancer. Methods: We conducted an observational comparative prospective study on delirium in patients with advanced cancer in different palliative care settings, assessing the presentation/evolution of DP with the Memorial delirium assessment scale (MDAS). Results: Two hundred twenty-seven patients were enrolled on hospital/hospice admission. Of these, 57 were admitted with delirium, 170 without delirium, and 31 developed delirium during hospitalization. Of the 88 patients admitted with delirium or who developed it during hospitalization, only 32 underwent two consecutive MDAS evaluations (at diagnosis and after one week). Delirium resolved in 22 patients (first average MDAS score 10.08 vs. second 3.6 [p < 0.001]). Disorientation, short-term memory, and memory span were altered in all patients with unresolved delirium. The same features were altered in 18 (80%), 17 (80%), and 16 (70%) of the patients with resolved delirium, respectively, and in 58 (35%), 114 (67%), and 38 (23%) of no-delirium patients, respectively. Conclusion: Cognitive-related symptoms appear to be the most prevalent and earliest signs of DP in patients with advanced cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Delirium in advanced cancer inpatient ranges between 13% and 85%. Reasons for this variability on the reported data could be related to the setting where they are admitted. Methods: This is an observational, comparative, prospective study on delirium diagnosis and delirium course of advanced cancer inpatients in two different palliative care settings. Hospice (C1) versus palliative care supportive team (C2). Differences between delirium precipitants, delirium treatment, and delirium survival were observed. Results: From 582 consecutive admissions, 494 from C1 and 88 from C2, finally 227 patients met inclusion criteria, were entered in the study. Total population delirium rate at admission, if we add both centers, was 57 patients (25%), 46 (26%) from C1 and 11 (22%) from C2; no statistically significant differences between delirium rate at admission between the two centers were found (χ2). When delirium course between delirious patients admitted in C1 and C2 was analyzed, a significantly higher rate of delirium reversibility was found in C2 [11/14 (78%)] versus [9/65 (14%)] in C1 (χ2p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion: The frequency of delirium at admission and during the hospitalization in advanced cancer patients does not seem to be related to the setting, what seems to be related is the delirium course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Studies on the end of life have shown that patients with advanced cancer prefer to die at home, and their caregivers agree with this choice. However, many cancer patients still die in hospital. Few data are available for Southern Europe and, in particular, for Italy. This study examined the factors associated with the place of death in a cohort of Italian patients with advanced cancer who were assisted by a palliative home care team. Methods We conducted a retrospective observational study to identify the association between place of death and clinical and demographic factors in a sample of 1374 patients. To analyze the factors associated with the place of death, we used univariate analyses by nonparametric tests and multinomial regression tests. Results Five variables related to the place of death were significant in univariate analysis, but only three were retained significant in the multinomial regression test. The older patients died more frequently at home rather than in hospital (P < 0.05); a greater number of home visits by a physician in the last 30 days of home care was correlated with dying at home (P < 0.001), a greater number of hospitalizations during the last 30 days of home care was correlated with dying in hospital and in hospice (P < 0.001). Conclusions The study shows that at the end of life the frequency of home visits by the palliative care physicians and a continuous at-home palliative service could favor dying at home in a cohort of cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study aimed to identified the prognostic accuracy by the general practitioners asking "surprise" questions about their patients. The study is conducted through a prospective cohort method on 42 of 50 randomly select general practitioners in the Bologna area of Italy between December 2011 and February 2012. The results of the study show that when general practitioners use "surprise" questions particularly for patients with cancer, the survival prognosis was high.

Background: Current understanding of genetic factors associated with pain severity, and improvement of pain with opioids in advanced cancer patients (AC) is inadequate for delivery of personalized pain therapy (PPT). Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the genetic factors associated with pain severity, daily opioid dose, and pain response in AC patients receiving supportive care.Methods: In this prospective study, AC patients were eligible if they had cancer pain ≥4/10 on Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) - Pain Item and needed opioid rotation for pain control by specialist at the outpatient supportive care center. Association of genetic factors with pain phenotype was assessed using logistic regression models and SKATO (Gene-block) analysis.Results: About 174/178 (98%) patient samples were analyzed. After adjustment for demographic and clinical variables, pain severity was negatively associated with intron variant alleles in OPRM1 rs9322446, P = 0.02; rs2270459, P = 0.038; rs62052210, P = 0.038. Opioid daily dose was positively associated NFKBIA rs2233419, P = 0.008; rs2233417, P = 0.007; rs3138054, P = 0.008; rs1050851, P = 0.015; ORPM1 rs9479759, P = 0.046; rs2003185, P = 0.047; rs636433, P = 0.044; COMT (rs9306234, P = 0.014; rs165728, P = 0.014; rs2020917, P = 0.036; rs165728, P = 0.034); ARRB2 (rs1045280, P = 0.045); and pain response to opioids was negatively associated OPRM1 rs1319339, P = 0.024; rs34427887, P = 0.048; and COMT rs4646316, P = 0.03; rs35478083, P = 0.028, respectively. SKATO analysis showed association between pain severity and CXCL8 (P = 0.0056), and STAT6 (P = 0.0297) genes respectively, and pain response with IL-6 (P = 0.00499).Conclusions: This study identified that SNPs of OPRM1, COMT, NFKBIA, CXCL8, IL-6, STAT6, and ARRB2 genes were associated with pain severity, opioid daily dose, and pain response in AC receiving supportive care. Additional studies are needed to validate our findings for PPT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]