title: No Differences in Symptom Burden Between Colorectal Cancer Patients Receiving Curative Versus Palliative Chemotherapy.
abstract: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Patients with CRC may have multiple cooccurring symptoms as a result of their disease or its treatment. Little is known about potential differences in symptom burden in CRC patients scheduled to receive curative versus palliative chemotherapy (CTX).
  
  
  
  The purposes of this study were to investigate the overall symptom burden of patients with CRC before their first CTX treatment or before the initiation of a new CTX regimen and to evaluate for differences in symptom occurrence, severity, and distress between patients with CRC who were scheduled to receive curative versus palliative CTX.
  
  
  
  Consecutive patients with CRC were recruited (n = 120), and symptoms were assessed using the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale before the initiation of the CTX. The most common symptoms that occurred in ≥30% of the patients were evaluated. Differences in occurrence rates and severity and distress scores between the curative (n = 68) and palliative (n = 52) patient groups were evaluated using binary logistic regression and ordinal logistic regression analyses, respectively.
  
  
  
  In both groups, patients reported an average of 10 cooccurring symptoms. Worrying (65%), lack of energy (59%), feeling drowsy (54%), feeling bloated (53%), pain (51%), and difficulty sleeping (50%) were the most prevalent symptoms. Problems with sexual interest had the highest severity and distress scores in both groups. For the 13 most common symptoms, no significant differences were found between the two patient groups on any of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale dimensions (i.e., occurrence, severity, distress).
  
  
  
  Regardless of the reason for CTX, CRC patients experience a large number of cooccurring symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: kari.rohrl@medisin.uio.no.
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Røhrl
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; K.G. Jebsen Colorectal Cancer Research Centre, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Marianne Grønlie
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Guren
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miaskowski
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: Department for Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Health Economics, Oslo University, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Lien My
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Diep
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Division of Emergencies and Critical Care, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Tone
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rustøen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: Multiple symptoms; adjuvant chemotherapy; colorectal cancer; palliative chemotherapy; symptom burden; symptom distress