Perioperative Palliative Care Surrounding Cancer Surgery for Patients & Their Family Members

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Gastrointestinal Cancer
• Interventions: Other: Surgeon team alone management; Other: Surgeon-palliative care team co management

• Registration Number: NCT03611309
• Lead Sponsor: Stanford University

Brief Summary

The study goal is to compare surgeon-palliative care team co-management, versus surgeon alone management, of patients and family members preparing for major upper gastrointestinal cancer surgery. The study also aims to explore, using qualitative methods, the impact of surgeon-palliative care team co-management versus surgeon alone management on the perioperative care experience for patients, family members, surgeons, and palliative care clinicians.

Detailed Description

The components of surgeon palliative care team co management practices will include Time, Education, Assessments, and Multi disciplinary (TEAM) element.

1. Time; At least 60 minutes/month (per patient and caregiver preference) devoted to palliative care treatments for the patient and family

2. Education - Patients and family members, per their desires and wishes, are counseled and educated about their disease, including self-management of symptoms, prognosis, and treatment options

3. Assessment - Formal assessment of symptoms including pain, dyspnea, constipation/diarrhea, anxiety/depression, fatigue, and nausea. Edmonton symptom score33 will be used as a formal assessment.

4. Multi-Disciplinary - Management must be multi disciplinary with access to a multi-disciplinary palliative care team composed of nurse, physician, social worker, pharmacist, and/or chaplain team members.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2018-07-25
• Study First Submitted QC: 2018-07-31
• Study First Posted: 2018-08-02
• Study Start: 2018-09-25
• Primary Completion: 2022-08-31
• Study Completion: 2022-08-31
• Status Verified: 2023-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-11-27
• Last Update Posted: 2023-11-29

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 378

Inclusion Criteria

• 18 years of age and must be able to give informed consent.
• Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer or hepatocellular cancer or esophageal cancer or gastric cancer and/or cholangio carcinomas
• Non emergent, upper gastrointestinal cancer related surgery with a goal of primary resection of the tumor- optimal surgical goal is cure, not merely disease palliation.
• One companion per patient will be allowed to participate. In addition, to being identified by the patient at being a key caregiver throughout the surgery period, these companions must be able to give informed consent and at least 18 years of age.

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Exclusion Criteria

• No previous involvement of palliative care providers in their care course

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Surgeon alone management	Surgeon team alone management	The surgeon and surgical team will manage symptoms, psychosocial support, and prognostic related communication. The surgeon and surgical team care for the patient and their family both prior to and following surgery. The surgeon team is given guidelines published by the National Cancer Coalition Network as to when palliative care specialist consultation is recommended
Surgeon-palliative care team co-management	Surgeon-palliative care team co management	In the Surgeon-palliative care team co-management arm, all patients receive the surgical care of surgeon alone management, which includes surgeon and the surgical team. In addition to this surgeon alone care, palliative care will also be provided by a specialist team. For patients in this arm, patients and/or family members will be seen by the palliative care team: (1) in an outpatient setting prior to surgery, (2) in the hospital within 72 hours of their initial surgery and as needed afterwards, and (3) via phone on in-clinic (per patient preference) on an at least monthly basis and/or as needed for 12 weeks following surgery.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Patient quality of life	Up to 12 weeks after surgery	Patient quality of life will be measured by the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Palliative care subscale (FACIT-PAL). FACIT-PAL is a compilation of general questions divided into four primary QOL domains: Physical Well-Being, Social/Family Well-Being, Emotional Well-Being, and Functional Well-Being. FACIT-PAL has 46 item self report measure. The range is from 0-184 for the FACIT-PAL. The outcome will be reported as the median value per group, with full range.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Caregiver spiritual measure	Up to 12 weeks after surgery	Caregiver spiritual symptoms assessment will be assessed using Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Spiritual Well-being; 12 item Spiritual Well-being Scale (FACIT-Sp-12). It is a 12 item questionnaire. The questions are ranked on a 4-point Likert Scale. The outcome will be reported as the median value per group, with full range.
Caregiver burden measurement	Up to 12 weeks after surgery	Caregiver burden symptoms will be measured by Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale (ZBI-12) which measures 12 items ( 0-4 points per item, total score of 0-48). The outcome will be reported as the median value per group, with full range.
Patient spiritual assessment	Up to 12 weeks after surgery	Patient spiritual symptoms assessment will be assessed using Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Spiritual Well-being; 12 item Spiritual Well-being Scale (FACIT-Sp-12). It is a 12 item questionnaire. The questions are ranked on a 4-point Likert Scale. The outcome will be reported as the median value per group, with full range.
Patient prognostic awareness assessment	Up to 12 weeks after surgery	Patient prognostic awareness is determined based on the Cancer Care Outcomes Research \& Surveillance Consortium (CANCORS) study prognostic awareness questions before and after surgery. The questions are ranked on a 5-point Likert Scale. The outcome will be reported as the median value per group, with full range.
Patient mood symptoms assessment	Up to 12 weeks after surgery	Patient symptoms will be measured by Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS-29) version 2.0. The PROMIS-29 is health-related quality of life survey which assesses each of the 7 PROMIS domains (pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep, physical function and sexual function) with 4 questions. The questions are ranked on a 5-point Likert Scale and 11 point rating scale for pain intensity. The outcome will be reported as the median value per group, with full range.
Patient palliative symptoms assessment	Up to 12 weeks after surgery	Patient will be assessed for twelve symptoms (pain, tiredness, nausea, depression, anxiety, drowsiness, appetite, well-being, shortness of breath, constipation, financial distress, and spiritual pain) using a modified Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS). Each symptom is rated from 0 to 10 on a numerical scale, 0 meaning that the symptom is absent and 10 that it is of the worst possible severity. The outcome will be reported as the median value per group, with full range.
Caregiver prognostic awareness assessment	Up to 12 weeks after surgery	Caregiver prognostic awareness is determined based on the Cancer Care Outcomes Research \& Surveillance Consortium (CANCORS) study prognostic awareness questions before and after surgery. The questions are ranked on a 5-point Likert Scale. The outcome will be reported as the median value per group, with full range.
Patient mortality	Up to 6 months after surgery	Number of surviving patients in both arms will be reported at end of 6 months.
Caregiver mood symptom assessment	Up to 12 weeks after surgery	Caregiver symptoms will be measured by Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS-29). The PROMIS-29 is health-related quality of life survey which assesses each of the 7 PROMIS domains (pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep, physical function and sexual function) with 4 questions. The questions are ranked on a 5-point Likert Scale and 11 point rating scale for pain intensity. The outcome will be reported as the median value per group, with full range.

Trial Locations

Locations (5)

Johns Hopkins Hostpital; 🇺🇸 Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Stanford University; 🇺🇸 Stanford, California, United States

Ohio State University Medical Center; 🇺🇸 Columbus, Ohio, United States

University of New Mexico; 🇺🇸 Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Dana Farber/ Brigham; 🇺🇸 Boston, Massachusetts, United States