Motallebnejad, M., Akram, S., Moghadamnia, A., Moulana, Z., & Omidi, S. (2008). The effect of topical application of pure honey on radiation-induced mucositis: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice, 9(3), 40–47.
Patients received 20 mL pure, natural honey 14 minutes before radiotherapy, then 20 mL 15 minutes and six hours after radiotherapy. Honey was rinsed and gradually swallowed to coat the oral and pharyngeal mucosa.
OMAS scores were significantly lower for the honey group than the control group for all weeks (p = 0.000). Significant differences were noted during week six of therapy. Mean weight loss was significantly higher in the control group (p = 0.000).
Moss, E. L., Simpson, J. S., Pelletier, G., & Forsyth, P. (2006). An open-label study of the effects of bupropion SR on fatigue, depression and quality of life of mixed-site cancer patients and their partners. Psycho-Oncology, 15, 259–267.
Bupropion sustained release (SR) was administered for four weeks at the maximum tolerated dose. Dosing was initiated at 100 mg in the morning and adjusted in increments of 50 mg, based on tolerability and effects, to a maximum of 300 mg daily. It was given in divided doses of either 100 or 150 mg. The dose was not increased if the maximum tolerable dose had been identified. The dose was 300 mg per day until the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) score had dropped to less than 50% of the initial value. Following dose escalation, a four-week, fixed-dose phase occurred at the maximum tolerated dose, during which efficacy and safety measures were assessed every two weeks. The average dose for bupropion SR was 214 mg per day (standard deviation = 80 mg).
The study used a prospective, variable dose, open-label trial design.
Moslehi, A., Taghizadeh-Ghehi, M., Gholami, K., Hadjibabaie, M., Jahangard-Rafsanjani, Z., Sarayani, A., ... Ghavamzadeh, A. (2014). N-acetyl cysteine for prevention of oral mucositis in hematopoietic SCT: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Bone Marrow Transplantation, 49(6), 818–823.
To determine the effect of n-acetyl cysteine (NAC) on the incidence and severity of oral mucositis glutathione peroxidase-1 activity
Patients were randomized to groups by a researcher not involved in the assessment of study outcomes. This same researcher also provided either the study drug or the placebo to the administrating nurse. Nurses were not blinded to the study groups, but treating physicians and those involved in the assessment of study data were blinded to the groups.
The study group was given NAC at 100 mg/kg of body weight diffused in 500 ml dextrose solution 5%. The drug was infused over a three-hour period beginning on the same day as high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and continuing until 15 days post-transplantation. A placebo infusion was given to control subjects. Patients were assessed daily beginning the first day of HDC and continuing for 21 days post-transplantation or until mucositis resolved.
PHASE OF CARE: Active antitumor treatment
Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study
The overall incidence of all grades of oral mucositis (OM) did not differ between groups. The incidence of severe OM (grades 3 and 4) was significantly lower in the intervention group (23.7%) compared to the control group (45.2%) (p = 0.04). No patients in the intervention group developed grade 4 mucositis while seven patients in the control group developed grade 4 mucositis. Patients who received NAC had a significantly shorter duration of mucositis (6.24 days) compared to controls (8.12 days) (p = 0.02). There was no difference in the time to onset of mucositis between groups. The use of parenteral opioid analgesics was not significantly different between study groups.
In this study, patients in the intervention group experienced less severe oral mucositis. No patients who received NAC developed grade 4 mucositis. Additionally, patients receiving NAC had a shorter duration of oral mucositis compared to controls. There was, however, no difference in the overall incidence of all grades of mucositis (grades 0–4) and no difference in the time to onset of mucositis between groups.
NAC was shown to decrease the severity and duration of OM and was well tolerated by the patients in this study. Patients undergoing transplant can benefit from these findings as the toxicities of increased pain, potential for infection, impaired nutritional intake, and prolonged hospitalization can be decreased. Nurses should carefully asses patients for the presence of mucositis during treatment with HDC and continue assessments until mucositis has resolved.
Mosher, C.E., Winger, J.G., Hanna, N., Jalal, S.I., Einhorn, L.H., Birdas, T.J., . . . Champion, V.L. (2016). Randomized pilot trial of a telephone symptom management intervention for symptomatic lung cancer patients and their family caregivers. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 52, 469–482.
To test a telephone-based symptom management (TSM) intervention based on social cognitive theory with patients with lung cancer and their caregivers
The control group received education/support. The goal was to test the effect of TSM on the following patient symptoms: anxiety, pain, breathlessness, fatigue, and depressive symptoms. In caregivers, the focus was on anxiety and depressive symptoms. The intervention group dyads received TSM sessions (each was 45 minutes) for four weeks from a licensed social worker who was trained by a psychologist. The intervention involved giving participants instructions on symptom management, problem solving, cognitive restructuring, emotion focused/self-soothing, communication skills, pleasant activity scheduling, and activity pacing. Participants received identical handouts detailing the points discussed and practice assignment and a CD with instructions for relaxation exercises. The teaching was based on various EB cognitive behavioral and emotion-focused strategies. The sessions focused on both the patient and caregiver.
Primary outcomes for the caregivers were:
Secondary outcomes:
No significant main effects were found for primary outcomes for either patients or caregivers. Small effect size improvement in self-efficacy of caregivers managing their own emotions was observed in the TSM group, while it declined slightly in the education/support group. Also, caregivers in the TSM group reported less perceived social constraints compared to the education/support group. No main effects were noticed in caregivers' self-efficacy in relation to managing patients’ symptoms.
The intervention did not demonstrate a significant effect.
The effect of a nonpharmacological (psychosocial) intervention on the symptoms of patients with lung cancer and their caregivers is inconclusive. Psychosocial interventions improved caregivers’ self-efficacy in managing their emotions and perception of social constraints.
Mosher, C. E., Duhamel, K. N., Lam, J., Dickler, M., Li, Y., Massie, M. J., & Norton, L. (2012). Randomised trial of expressive writing for distressed metastatic breast cancer patients. Psychology and Health, 27, 88–100.
To examine the health effects—on existential and psychological well-being, fatigue, and sleep—of writing about the deepest cancer-related thoughts and feelings in patients with advanced breast cancer.
The study was a randomized trial, with interviewers blinded in regard to the group they were interviewing.
In this sample, expressive writing—compared to neutral writing—did not result in better existential and psychological well-being, reduced fatigue, or enhanced sleep quality. Although both writing groups showed little change in their distress over time, during the study, patients in the expressive writing group reported more than double the rate of mental health service use than did patients in the neutral writing group.
Expressive writing may have increased patients’ awareness of their distress and challenging circumstances, prompting the patients to seek mental health services. Further research is needed.
Expressive writing may increase use of psychological support services by distressed patients, without increasing symptom severity. Expressive writing may help keep patients in touch with their emotions, whether negative or positive. When patients are in touch with their emotions, they may be more likely to reach out for help, if they recognize negative emotions that they are not resolving on their own. However, this intervention did not result in differences in patient symptoms or outcomes.
Moseley, A.L., Carati, C.J., & Piller, N.B. (2007). A systematic review of common conservative therapies for arm lymphoedema secondary to breast cancer treatment. Annals of Oncology, 18(4), 639–646.
STUDY PURPOSE: To review the common conservative therapies for arm lymphedema secondary to breast cancer treatment
DATABASES USED: Search of English literature using the search engines CINAHL, PubMed, MEDLINE, CancerLit, PEDro, and Cochrane Evidence-Based Medicine Database; proceedings from the International Society of Lymphology and the Australian Lymphoedema Association; and contact with primary authors when publications were difficult to source.
EVALUATION METHOD AND COMMENTS ON LITERATURE USED: Data were extracted using EndNote 7® (Thomson Reuters), and a quality scale assessment tool was used. Review included randomized, controlled, parallel, crossover format, and case-controlled and cohort studies. Case reports and anecdotal evidence were not reviewed. Because of treatment and data heterogeneity, authors were not able to perform a meta-analysis.
Moryl, N., Kogan, M., Comfort, C., & Obbens, E. (2005). Methadone in the treatment of pain and terminal delirium in advanced cancer patients. Palliative and Supportive Care, 3, 311–317.
To document the use of methadone as part of an opioid-rotation strategy for the treatment of uncontrolled pain in patients with delirium at the end of life
Ten patients rotated from morphine, five from fentanyl, two from hydromorphone, and three from fentanyl-morphine or morphine- hydromorphone combinations. Authors were purposefully conservative in calculating the starting methadone dose. Within the first week four patients expired, one changed to IV methadone, and two rotated back to morphine because of worsening delirium and inadequate analgesia. At two weeks, 10 patients had expired. Of the remaining 10, seven stayed on methadone. The average dose was 1.1 mg/hour. Two patients returned to morphine, and one was rotated to Percocet.
United States
Nonrandomized open-label prospective study
Pain control was significant in 15 of 20 patients; average analgesia was good to excellent. Sedation rating decreased from 1.65 to 0.55 on 1–3 scale. Cognitive status improved for nine patients. Six patients achieved moderate improvement in cognitive status; two, partial improvement; and three, no improvement. Three days after the switch from an opiod, average MDAS score improved from 23.6 to 10.6. Decreased alertness on methadone was devoid of agitation.
Methadone can be an acceptable alternative to an opioid in the treatment of refractory pain and terminal delirium. The use of methadone can minimize the need for sedation to treat delirium.
Mortimer, J.E., Lauman, M.K., Tan, B., Dempsey, C.L., Shillington, A.C., & Hutchins, K.S. (2003). Pyridoxine treatment and prevention of hand-and-foot syndrome in patients receiving capecitabine. Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice, 9, 161–166.
To evaluate the effectiveness of oral pyridoxine for preventing and treating palmar plantar erythrodysesthesia (PPE) associated with capecitabine
Of the patients receiving oral pyridoxine, 73 patients (74%) received it as prophylaxis, and the remainder (26%) received it as acute hand-foot syndrome (HFS) treatment. The median dose of pyridoxine was 200 mg/m2.
The data did not support that vitamin B6 prophylaxis prevented overall PPE incidence in a greater proportion of patients compared with those who did not receive prophylaxis (60% versus 53%). However, when used as treatment, a greater proportion of patients receiving vitamin B6 reported symptom improvement (65% versus 12%, p < 0.001).
Pyridoxine is not recommended for prophylaxis but may provide some relief for patients with acute HFS.
Morrow, G. R., Hickok, J. T., Roscoe, J. A., Raubertas, R. F., Andrews, P. L., Flynn, P. J., . . . University of Rochester Cancer Center Community Clinical Oncology Program. (2003). Differential effects of paroxetine on fatigue and depression: a randomized, double-blind trial from the University of Rochester Cancer Center Community Clinical Oncology Program. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 21, 4635–4641
Patients were given oral paroxetine 20 mg orally daily or placebo for eight weeks.
18 Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) outpatient centers
Patients were undergoing the active treatment phase of care.
The study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
The paroxetine group and the placebo control had comparable levels of fatigue and depression at study inception. Paroxetine had neither beneficial nor detrimental effects on fatigue. There was a significantly lower mean level of depression in the paroxetine group compared with the placebo group. Treatment with paroxetine also favorably affected patients’ general moods. There were no differences in the effect of paroxetine on fatigue by gender, age, indication for treatment (adjuvant treatment versus treatment for metastatic disease), or by whether patients were more or less fatigued at baseline.
No special training is required to deliver the intervention. There are costs related to drug acquisition.
Morrow, G. R., Schwartzberg, L., Barbour, S. Y., Ballinari, G., Thorn, M. D., & Cox, D. (2014). Palonosetron versus older 5-HT3 receptor antagonists for nausea prevention in patients receiving chemotherapy: A multistudy analysis. The Journal of Community and Supportive Oncology, 12, 250–258.
To compare the efficacy and safety of palonosetron with older 5HT3 receptor antagonists (RAs) in preventing chemotherapy-induced nausea
Data were pooled from four studies that were multicenter, randomized, double-blinded clinical trials comparing palonosetron, ondansetron, dolasetron, or granisetron.
The patients treated with palonosetron experienced less nausea each day then the other 5HT3 RAs, and fewer patients receiving palonosetron had moderate to severe nausea. The use of rescue medication was less frequent among patients in the palonosetron arm. The complete control rates for palonosetron versus older 5HT3 RAs were 66% versus 63% during the acute acute phase, 52% versus 42% in the delayed phase, and 46% versus 37% in the overall phase. No safety differences or concerns were noted.
Palonosetron was more effective in treating and preventing nausea than ondansetron, dolasetron, and granisetron. All four agents tolerated equally well.
Nurses are aware that palonosetron has a longer half-life and is the medication of choice for outpatient treatment. This study reinforces palonosetron use by noting that more patients receiving it had nausea-free days, lower nausea ratings, and less rescue medication use. Nausea is very subjective, but nurses are aware that it is more of a problem in the delayed phase than actual vomiting. Nausea affects quality of life, and this study can help nurses choose the correct 5HT3 RA.