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Potential curability and perception of received information in esophageal cancer patients

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to evaluate patients’ perceived receipt of information according to the possibility of cure in esophageal cancer.

Methods

One hundred and twelve consecutive patients presenting at the multidisciplinary visit at the Veneto Institute of Oncology for esophageal cancer between 2014 and 2016 were included in the study. The Italian version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) quality of life questionnaires C30 (core questionnaire), OG25 (esophago-gastric cancer module), and INFO25 (information module) were used.

Results

Candidates for palliative treatment were less informed about the disease (adjusted mean difference − 11.5, 95% CI − 23.0 to − 0.02) and less satisfied with information provided (adjusted mean difference − 18.3, 95% CI − 31.9 to − 4.7) than candidates for curative treatment. In addition, candidates for palliative treatment wanted to receive more information than candidates for curative treatment (adjusted mean difference 26.1, 95% CI 0.5 to 51.6). Better quality of life was associated with satisfaction of received information (β = 0.77, p < 0.0001) and of receiving information about things that the patient can do to help himself (β = 0.26, p = 0.04). More anxiety was associated to receiving more information about disease (β = 0.46, p = 0.02) but less information about things that the patient can do to help himself (β = − 0.38, p = 0.02).

Conclusions

Candidates for palliative treatment were less satisfied with information about the disease and wanted to receive more information. Additionally, some aspects of quality of life were found to be associated with perceived receipt of information. Appropriate training in communication of prognostic information may improve clinical management of incurable cancer patients.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from Berlucchi Foundation (Brescia, Italy) to Carlo Castoro. Funding sources had no involvement in study design, data collection and analysis, or write up.

The authors are also grateful to Ms. Christina Drace (Language Revision Service, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Padua, Italy) for her kind help in the final editing of the manuscript.

Preliminary results were presented in the poster sessions during ESDE 2015 at Stockholm, Sweden and DDW 2016 at San Diego, CA, USA.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Eleonora Pinto, Francesco Cavallin, Carlo Castoro and Marco Scarpa contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Esophageal and D igestive Tract Surgical Unit, Regional Centre for Esophageal Disease, Veneto Oncological Institute (IOV-IRCCS), via Gattamelata 64, 35128, Padova, Italy

    Eleonora Pinto, Francesco Cavallin, Luca Maria Saadeh, Maria Cristina Bellissimo, Rita Alfieri, Silvia Mantoan, Matteo Cagol, Carlo Castoro & Marco Scarpa

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  1. Eleonora Pinto
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  2. Francesco Cavallin
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  3. Luca Maria Saadeh
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  4. Maria Cristina Bellissimo
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  5. Rita Alfieri
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  6. Silvia Mantoan
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  7. Matteo Cagol
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  8. Carlo Castoro
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  9. Marco Scarpa
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Correspondence to Marco Scarpa.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary Fig. 1

Quality of life and functioning scales (a) and symptoms scales (b): means of C30 and OG25 selected scales. (GIF 10 kb)

High resolution (TIFF 2028 kb)

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Pinto, E., Cavallin, F., Saadeh, L.M. et al. Potential curability and perception of received information in esophageal cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 26, 1807–1814 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-4005-0

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