Perceptions of Side Effects of Cancer Chemoradiotherapy

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To examine the perceptions of side effects and their subjective severity of patients treated with radiotherapy with and without concurrent chemotherapy at Los Angeles County (LAC) + University of Southern California (USC) Medical Center.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To identify the most troubling side effects of patients treated with radiotherapy with and without concurrent chemotherapy at LAC+USC Medical Center.

II. To evaluate the impact of chemotherapy combined with radiation therapy, in regards to whether or not perceptions of side effects are altered by what cancer treatment is given.

OUTLINE:

Patients are shown two groups of cards on the last day of radiation treatment. Group A lists 48 physical side effects and group B lists 27 psychosocial side effects. The cards are shuffled and patients view one card at a time and select the side effects they attribute to their current treatment. Patients rank the selected cards from each group by order of severity. The top 5 cards from each group are then shuffled together and patients rank the remaining 10 cards in order of severity.

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of cancer
• Has received at least 4 consecutive weeks of definitive radiation treatment, with or without concurrent chemotherapy
• Has not received greater than 4 weeks of chemotherapy prior to radiation therapy start
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with either a central nervous system (CNS)-primary cancer or with brain metastases