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Acute cancer-related symptoms and concerns among patients receiving chemotherapy: current state of the science

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Abstract

Purpose

This study provides an updated evaluation of the prevalence and severity of acute cancer-related symptoms and quality of life (QOL) concerns among patients treated with emetogenic chemotherapy.

Methods

Patients were recruited to a larger, multi-site observational study prior to starting chemotherapy. Participants completed sociodemographic questionnaires and clinical data were abstracted via medical record review. Symptoms and QOL were assessed 5 days after starting moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy. Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – General assessed QOL concerns. Patient Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events evaluated symptoms. Symptoms were considered severe when participants responded “severe” or “very severe.”

Results

Participants (N = 1174) were on average 58 ± 13 years, mostly female (73%), non-Hispanic (89%), and White (87%). Most participants were diagnosed with breast (38.1%), gynecological (20%), and gastrointestinal (17.1%) cancer. The most common QOL concerns of any severity were fatigue (94%), anhedonia (89%), dissatisfaction with QOL (86%), and sleep disturbance (86%). The most common severe QOL concerns were anhedonia (44%), fatigue (40%), and inability to work (38%). Decreased appetite (74%), pain (71%), and constipation (70%) were the most common symptoms of any severity, as well as most common severe symptoms (13%, 18%, and 18%, respectively).

Conclusion

Herein, updates are provided in regard to QOL concerns and symptoms reported by patients in the days after chemotherapy and demonstrates that concerns and symptoms have shifted in the last decade.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the study participants for their contributions and for making this study possible.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Cancer Institute (R01CA219389, P30CA076292). Dr. Smith’s work was funded by the National Cancer Institute while she was a postdoctoral fellow at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute (T32CA090314; MPIs: S. T. Vadaparampil and V. N. Simmons).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior, Moffitt Cancer Center, 12902 Magnolia Dr, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA

    Kristen S. Smith, Aasha I. Hoogland, Taylor Welniak, Oanh L. Nguyen, Yvelise Rodriguez, Xiaoyin Li, Sylvia L. Crowder, Laura B. Oswald, Brian D. Gonzalez & Heather S. L. Jim

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA

    Kristen M. Carpenter

  3. Department of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA

    Stacy M. Fischer

  4. Department of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, USA

    Daneng Li

  5. Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Anita Y. Kinney

  6. Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Informatics, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Donna L. Berry

Authors
  1. Kristen S. Smith
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  2. Aasha I. Hoogland
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  3. Taylor Welniak
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  4. Oanh L. Nguyen
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  8. Laura B. Oswald
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  11. Daneng Li
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  13. Donna L. Berry
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  14. Brian D. Gonzalez
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  15. Heather S. L. Jim
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Contributions

Conceptualization, L. O., K. C., S. F., D. L., A. K., B. G., and H. J.; methodology, K. C., S. F., D. L., A. K., B. G., and H. J.; formal analysis, K. S., A. H., and X. L.; investigation, L. O., K. C., S. F., D. L., A. K., B. G., and H. J.; data curation, A. H., X. L., K. C., S. F., D. L., and A. K.; writing — original draft preparation, K. S.; writing — review and editing, A. H., T. W., L. N., Y. R., X. L., S. C., L. O., K. C., S. F., D. L., A. K., B. G., and H. J.; visualization, K. S.; supervision, A. H., Y. R., X. L., S. C., K. C., S. F., D. L., A. K., B. G., and H. J.; administration, T. W., L. N., K. C., S. F., D. L., A. K., and H. J.; funding acquisition, H. J. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristen S. Smith.

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Competing interests

Brian Gonzalez – paid consultant for SureMed Compliance outside this work and advisor for Elly Health outside this work. Heather Jim – paid consultant for SBR Bioscience and Kite Pharma outside of this work. All other authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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Smith, K.S., Hoogland, A.I., Welniak, T. et al. Acute cancer-related symptoms and concerns among patients receiving chemotherapy: current state of the science. Support Care Cancer 32, 184 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-024-08385-7

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