Cochrane

Background Patients with incurable cancer often experience tiredness (fatigue) during cancer treatment. Psychological therapies may help to reduce this symptom. Tiredness in cancer patients receiving cancer treatment may be treated with psychological therapies aimed at influencing or changing thoughts, emotions, behaviours, social interactions, or ...

Bottom line There is no evidence to show that paracetamol is useful in treating people with cancer pain, either alone or combined with a morphine-like drug. Nor is there evidence to disprove that it is useful. There are no good studies evaluating paracetamol for management of cancer pain. Background One person in two or three who gets cancer will ...

Bottom line There is no high-quality evidence to prove that NSAIDs are useful in treating people with cancer pain. Nor is there evidence to disprove that they are useful. Very low-quality evidence shows that some people with moderate or severe cancer pain have pain much reduced within one or two weeks. Background One person in two or three who gets ...

Bottom line In about 19 of 20 people with moderate to severe pain from cancer, morphine-like drugs (opioids) can probably reduce pain to mild or no pain within 14 days if they can tolerate the side effects. Most people will have side effects, and about 1 in 10 to 2 in 10 will need to change their treatment because of side effects. Background One ...

Background Nausea is a common symptom in advanced cancer. While nausea and vomiting can be related to cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery, a significant number of people with advanced cancer also suffer from nausea unrelated to such therapies. Nausea and vomiting may also cause psychological distress, and have a negative ...

Bottom line The benefits and harms of adding low-dose ketamine to strong pain-killers such as morphine for the relief of cancer pain are not yet established. High-dose ketamine does not appear to be effective and may be associated with serious side effects. Background This review is an update of a review first published in 2003 and updated in 2012. Morphine-like ...

Review question What is the evidence for the effects of early palliative care on quality of life, survival, depression, and symptom intensity in people with advanced cancer? Background Frequently, cancer is diagnosed at a late stage, and the disease might have progressed through anticancer treatment. Patients can choose to start or continue anticancer ...

Review question We aimed to answer the question "how good are drugs at treating anxiety and worry in adults who have an illness which is getting worse and are in the last year of their life?" Background Anxiety or worry is a common problem for people who have an illness which is getting worse and are in the last year of their life. People may be ...

Bottom line No firm conclusions could be drawn about the effectiveness or harms of tramadol, alone or with paracetamol, in cancer pain. Background One person in two or three who gets cancer will suffer from pain that becomes moderate or severe in intensity. The pain tends to get worse as the cancer progresses. Tramadol hydrochloride is an opioid ...

Objectives This systematic review sought to find out how well educational interventions worked for managing cancer-related fatigue. Condition Fatigue is a common and problematic symptom for people with cancer that is greater than the tiredness experienced in everyday life. It can make the experience of other symptoms worse, negatively affect mood, ...