Perceptions of Side Effects of Cancer Chemoradiotherapy

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study is asking patients who are undergoing radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy on how well they evaluate their side effects on the last day of treatment. This study is not to change health outcomes of the patients in this study. Asking patients to rank side effects in order of which ones bother them the most may help researchers identify the most troubling side effects of cancer treatment.

Detailed Description
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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.

Official Title
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Patient Perceptions of Side Effects of Cancer Chemoradiotherapy

Conditions
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Malignant Neoplasm, Side Effect

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Clinical Observation


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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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

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Observational (side effects evaluation using cards)<br>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. | Other: Clinical Observation<br>* Undergo side effects evaluation using cards<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Identify the most common type of side effects as perceived by patients on the last day of radiation treatment | Tables and bar charts will be used to display the 10-20 highest ranked side effects overall, by sex and concurrent chemotherapy. Descriptive statistics such as means and standard deviation will be used. | Up to 1 year |