Description
Breanne Lechner (Editor)Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRonald Chow (Editor)Infinitas Research Group, London, Ontario, CanadaNatalie Pulenzas (Editor)Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaMarko Popovic (Editor)Rapid Response Radiotherapy Program, Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaNa Zhang (Editor)Professor of Radiation Oncology at Liaoning Province Cancer Hospital in ChinaXiaojing Zhang, MD, PhD (Editor)Department of Bone and Soft Tissue Tumor, Liaoning Cancer Hospital and Institute, Dalian Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, ChinaEdward Chow, PhD (Editor)Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, CanadaJoav Merrick, MD, MMedSci, DMSc, (Editor)Medical Director, Health Services, Division for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, Jerusalem, IsraelDivision of Adolescent Medicine, KY Children’s Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Lexington, Kentucky, USANational Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Jerusalem, IsraelDivision of Pediatrics, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Centers, Mt Scopus Campus, Jerusalem, IsraelSchool of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USASeries: Health and Human DevelopmentBISAC: MED062000Many cancer patients experience a variety of distressing symptoms, adversely affecting their functional status and quality of life (QOL). Subjective symptoms such as pain, fatigue and depression are common among cancer patients, with approximately 33-55% of cancer patients experiencing pain during the course of their illness. Previous literature commonly examined a single symptom and its effect on patients’ functional status and QOL, but patients often experience multiple symptoms simultaneously. Since individual symptoms are often associated with decreased QOL, the assumption that symptom clusters might have a greater effect on QOL is logical.The coexistence of symptoms provides an insight into the importance of assessing clusters of symptoms rather than focusing on individual symptoms. Although the focus of single symptoms has advanced the understanding of those particular symptoms, it may not be as helpful to health care professionals in guiding practice when patients present several concurrent symptoms. It is important for clinicians to address and ultimately treat all concurrent symptoms. Symptom cluster research will help our understanding and treatment of multiple symptoms.(Imprint: Nova Biomedical)
