title: Symptom prevalence in patients with advanced skin cancer.
abstract: Knowledge of the prevalence of symptoms in patients with incurable cancer in the terminal stage is important for clinicians. However, there has been no report on the prevalence of symptoms in patients with incurable skin cancer. We analyzed the prevalence of symptoms in 224 patients who died due to skin cancer in our center. These data were obtained from medical records compiled by a miscellaneous population of medical staff retrospectively. We evaluated the symptoms at 3 months, 1 month, 2 weeks, 1 week and 3 days before the patients died. Data for symptoms included Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status and the presence or absence of the following 13 symptoms: (i) bleeding or exudate; (ii) pain or necessity for an analgesic; (iii) fatigue; (iv) anorexia; (v) nausea; (vi) dyspnea or need for oxygen administration; (vii) bloating; (viii) insomnia; (ix) delirium; (x) drowsiness; (xi) anemia; (xii) spasm; and (xiii) paralysis. The average performance status gradually progressed. Pain and anorexia were the most common symptoms in patients with advanced skin cancer. Dyspnea, anemia and drowsiness also tended to be frequent as death approached despite the fact that the frequencies of these symptoms were not high 3 months before death. We considered that frequencies of prevalence of pain and dyspnea were due to bone and lung metastases. Bleeding or exudate from lesions is a characteristic symptom in patients with skin cancer. Our results regarding the prevalence of symptoms in patients with advanced skin cancer will be helpful for medical professionals to assess patients' conditions and to plan treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka, Japan.|Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine of Sensory and Motor Organs, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Shusuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Otsuka
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Omodaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Kosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshimi
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine of Sensory and Motor Organs, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine of Sensory and Motor Organs, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kiyohara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: palliative care; quality of life; skin cancer; symptom prevalence; terminal stage