Annual Report 2022
Department of Palliative Medicine
Tomofumi Miura, Kazuhiro Kosugi, Emi Kubo, Yujiro Inoue, Yasutaka Shimotsuura, Junji Yamaguchi, Kazue Umetsu, Saeko Sonokawa, Keisuke Ishizuka, Mariko Harada, Tomonori Inoue, Yukako Hattori, Rie Yamamoto, Masako Ikeda, Sachiko Nagatsuma, Rumiko Osawa
Introduction
The purpose of our department is to improve the quality of life of cancer patients and their family caregivers by managing the irritable symptom burden and establishing a regional palliative care system. For that purpose, we provide 3 palliative care services: (1) outpatient clinic, (2) palliative care unit, and (3) supportive care team.
Additionally, the National Cancer Center Hospital East was certified as an ESMO designated center of integrated oncology and palliative care in 2018.
The Team and What We Do
1. Outpatient clinic
Patients with or without anti-cancer therapy consult our outpatient clinic about management of their symptoms or support to decide where and how to spend their lives (Table 1).
Table 1. Number of patients in the outpatient clinic
2. Palliative care unit
Our palliative care unit is the Japanese version of an acute palliative care unit (APCU). The features of APCUs are multidimensional assessment, rapid symptom control, and intensive psychosocial care with a shorter length of stay and lower death rate than in a traditional PCU. Medical social workers greatly contribute to the transition to palliative home care and transfers to other hospitals (Table 2).
Table 2. Number of patients in the PCU
3. Supportive care team
This team consists of physicians, psycho-oncologists, nurses, dieticians, physiotherapists, and speech-language-hearing therapists. In the oncology section, our supportive care team takes a multidisciplinary approach for inpatients with various illnesses (Table 3).
Table 3. Number of patients treated by the supportive care team
Research Activities
1) Development of a support system for cancer patients at home using AI-based monitoring.
2) Research on the establishment of a support system for cancer patients with minor children using an online peer support system.
3) Research on the efficacy of specialized rehabilitation for cancer patients hospitalized in palliative care units.
4) Research on psychological distress among cancer patients with minor children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
5) Participation in multicenter observational studies, interventional studies, and surveys of bereaved families.
Clinical Trials
A double-blind randomized controlled trial to relief the distress from chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy using magnetic fields.
Education
The purpose is to promote our residents’ understanding of palliative care for cancer patients and their families. Residents can train in home palliative care on request. To disseminate knowledge about primary palliative care, we held several online lectures for patients, caregivers and medical staff across the country.
Future Prospects
Our department will continue the above activities and develop new treatments and medical instruments to improve the QOL of cancer patients and their family caregivers.
List of papers published in 2022
Journal
1. Otani H, Amano K, Morita T, Miura T, Mori N, Tatara R, Kessoku T, Matsuda Y, Tagami K, Mori M, Taniyama T, Nakajima N, Nakanishi E, Kako J, Shirado AN, Yokomichi N, Miyashita M. Impact of taste/smell disturbances on dietary intakes and cachexia-related quality of life in patients with advanced cancer. Supportive care in cancer, 31:141, 2023
2. Matsumoto Y, Umemura S, Okizaki A, Fujisawa D, Kobayashi N, Tanaka Y, Sasaki C, Shimizu K, Ogawa A, Kinoshita H, Uchitomi Y, Yoshiuchi K, Matsuyama Y, Morita T, Goto K, Ohe Y. Early specialized palliative care for patients with metastatic lung cancer receiving chemotherapy: a feasibility study of a nurse-led screening-triggered programme. Japanese journal of clinical oncology, 52:375-382, 2022
3. Ueda S, Yamashita S, Nakajima M, Kumamoto T, Ogawa C, Liu YY, Yamada H, Kubo E, Hattori N, Takeshima H, Wakabayashi M, Iida N, Shiraishi Y, Noguchi M, Sato Y, Ushijima T. A quantification method of somatic mutations in normal tissues and their accumulation in pediatric patients with chemotherapy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119:e2123241119, 2022
4. Kubo E, Ishiki H, Abe K, Kaku S, Yokota S, Arakawa S, Kiuchi D, Amano K, Satomi E. Clinical role and safety of tapentadol in patients with cancer: A single-center experience. Journal of opioid management, 18:273-280, 2022
5. Abe A, Amano K, Morita T, Miura T, Mori N, Tatara R, Kessoku T, Matsuda Y, Tagami K, Otani H, Mori M, Taniyama T, Nakajima N, Nakanishi E, Kako J, Kiuchi D, Ishiki H, Matsuoka H, Satomi E, Miyashita M. Beliefs and Perceptions About Parenteral Nutrition and Hydration by Advanced Cancer Patients. Palliative medicine reports, 3:132-139, 2022
6. Uehara Y, Matsumoto Y, Kosugi T, Sone M, Nakamura N, Mizushima A, Miyashita M, Morita T, Yamaguchi T, Satomi E. Availability of and factors related to interventional procedures for refractory pain in patients with cancer: a nationwide survey. BMC palliative care, 21:166, 2022
7. Asai M, Matsumoto Y, Miura T, Hasuo H, Maeda I, Ogawa A, Morita T, Uchitomi Y, Kinoshita H. Psychological Distress among Caregivers for Patients Who Die of Cancer: A Preliminary Study in Japan. Journal of Nippon Medical School = Nippon Ika Daigaku zasshi, 89:428-435, 2022
8. Miura T, Mitsunaga S, Matsuzaki J, Takizawa S, Kato K, Ochiai A, Ochiya T. Serum microRNAs as new criteria for referral to early palliative care services in treatment-naïve advanced cancer patients. Oncotarget, 13:1341-1349, 2022
9. Terada T, Miura T, Kosugi K, Natsume M, Yajima M Y., Shimotsuura Y, Eto T, Matsumoto Y. Efficacy of Aconiti tuber for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy with peripheral coldness and/or symptoms relief by warming: A case series. Traditional & Kampo Medicine, 9:57-60, 2022
10. Matsunuma R, Yamaguchi T, Mori M, Ikari T, Suzuki K, Matsuda Y, Matsumoto Y, Watanabe H, Amano K, Kamura R, Kizawa Y. Predictive Factors for the Development of Dyspnea Within 7 Days After Admission Among Terminally Ill Cancer Patients. The American journal of hospice & palliative care, 39:413-420, 2022
11. Tsuno T, Fujimiya T, Kawaguchi T, Yanaizumi R, Kojima K, Miyasato A, Azuma K, Saeki T, Mawatari H, Igarashi T, Miura T, Ogura H, Kondo J, Tanoue T, Hamada H, Oyama Y, Kotani A, Yamaguchi T, Hakamata H. Psychological barriers to the use of opioid analgesics for treating pain in patients with advanced recurrent cancer (BAROC): protocol for a multicentre cohort study. BMJ open, 12:e054914, 2022
12. Usui Y, Kosugi K, Nishiguchi Y, Miura T, Fujisawa D, Uehara Y, Kawaguchi T, Izumi K, Takehana J, Matsumoto Y. Parenting experiences of cancer patients with minor children and their conversations about the possibility of death: a cross-sectional web-based survey for an online cancer community. Supportive care in cancer, 30:7715-7720, 2022
13. Taniguchi Y, Matsuda Y, Mori M, Ito M, Ikari T, Tokoro A, Aiki S, Hoshino S, Kiuchi D, Suzuki K, Igarashi Y, Odagiri T, Oya K, Kubo E, Yamaguchi T. Effectiveness and safety of opioids for dyspnea in patients with lung cancer: secondary analysis of multicenter prospective observational study. Translational lung cancer research, 11:2395-2402, 2022
14. Chitose H, Kuwana M, Miura T, Inoue M, Nagasu Y, Shimizu R, Hattori Y, Uehara Y, Kosugi K, Matsumoto Y. A Japanese Nationwide Survey of Nutritional Counseling for Cancer Patients and Risk Factors of Burnout among Registered Dietitians. Palliative medicine reports, 3:211-219, 2022
15. Amano K, Baracos VE, Morita T, Miura T, Mori N, Tatara R, Kessoku T, Tokoro A, Tagami K, Otani H, Mori M, Taniyama T, Nakajima N, Nakanishi E, Kako J, Kiuchi D, Ishiki H, Matsuoka H, Satomi E, Miyashita M. The impact of cachexia on dietary intakes, symptoms, and quality of life in advanced cancer. JCSM Rapid Communications, 5:162- 170, 2022
16. Yokota S, Amano K, Oyamada S, Ishiki H, Maeda I, Miura T, Hatano Y, Uneno Y, Hori T, Matsuda Y, Kohara H, Suzuki K, Morita T, Mori M, the East-Asian collaborative cross-cultural Study to Elucidate the Dying process (EASED) investigators. Effects of artificial nutrition and hydration on survival in patients with head and neck cancer and esophageal cancer admitted to palliative care units. Clinical Nutrition Open Science, 41:33-43, 2022
17. Miura T, Elgersma R, Okizaki A, Inoue MK, Amano K, Mori M, Chitose H, Matsumoto Y, Jager-Wittenaar H, Ottery FD. A Japanese translation, cultural adaptation, and linguistic and content validity confirmation of the Scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment. Supportive care in cancer, 29:7329-7338, 2021
18. Amano K, Ishiki H, Miura T, Maeda I, Hatano Y, Oyamada S, Yokomichi N, Tagami K, Odagiri T, Ito T, Baba M, Morita T, Mori M. C-Reactive Protein and Its Relationship with Pain in Patients with Advanced Cancer Cachexia: Secondary Cross-Sectional Analysis of a Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study. Palliative medicine reports, 2:122-131, 2021
19. Suzuki H, Mitsunaga S, Ikeda M, Aoyama T, Yoshizawa K, Yoshimatsu H, Kawai N, Masuda M, Miura T, Ochiai A. Clinical and Tumor Characteristics of Patients with High Serum Levels of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 in Advanced Pancreatic Cancer. Cancers, 13:4842, 2021
20. Miura T, Okizaki A, Hasuo H, Satomi E, Tagami K, Imai K, Kojima T, Satake H, Ishiki H, Inoue A, Yamaguchi T. Dexamethasone 8 mg for Cancer-Related Fatigue in Inpatients with Advanced Cancer Undergoing Palliative Care: A Multicenter Phase II Trial. Palliative medicine reports, 2:316-323, 2021
21. Amano K, Satomi E, Oyamada S, Ishiki H, Sakashita A, Miura T, Maeda I, Hatano Y, Yamauchi T, Oya K, Nakagawa J, Hiratsuka Y, Hirohashi T, Morita T, Mori M, the East-Asian collaborative cross-cultural Study to Elucidate the Dying process (EASED) investigators. The prevalence of artificially administered nutrition and hydration in different age groups among patients with advanced cancer admitted to palliative care units. Clinical Nutrition Open Science, 40:69-78, 2021