Recognizing Distress in Cancer Patients in Day Hospital, by Trained Nurses vs. Non-Trained Nurses: A Pilot Study.

: Psychological distress impacts 35-40% of cancer patients, significantly affecting their quality of life, treatment adherence, and relationships with healthcare professionals. Given this, there is a critical need to enhance nursing competencies to effectively monitor and address psychological distress. Previous studies have highlighted discrepancies in capabilities based on nurses' training status, emphasizing trained nurses' critical role in providing appropriate psycho-social referrals.

How Psychophysical Stress Can Mediate the Effects of Anxiety and Depression on the Overall Quality of Life and Well-Being in Women Undergoing Hereditary Breast Cancer Screening.

: Women undergoing genetic counseling for hereditary breast cancer often experience a high emotional burden. Distress and stress in the initial phases of genetic counseling can be significant predictors of long-term psychological health, influencing quality of life and well-being. : This study aimed to evaluate the mediating role of psychophysical stress in the relationship of anxiety and depression with quality of life and well-being in women undergoing genetic counseling for BRCA1/2 mutations.

Narrative Medicine: A Digital Diary in the Management of Patients with Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcoma-A Multidisciplinary Pilot Study.

Although patient narratives have been increasingly introduced in various fields of medicine, a standard method in clinical practice is still lacking. The objectives of this pilot study were to evaluate the feasibility and usefulness of a digital narrative diary integrated into the care pathway of patients with bone sarcoma and limb soft tissue sarcoma both from the patients' and the healthcare professionals' (HCPs) perspectives. A digital platform, DNMLAB, was designed to obtain guided narratives from patients during their pathway of care in compliance with confidentiality and data protection laws.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diagnosis and treatment of patients with soft tissue and bone sarcomas or aggressive benign musculoskeletal diseases: A single-center retrospective study (SarCorD study).

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a rapid reorganization of healthcare activities, leading to reduced access to clinics, interruption of screenings, and treatment schedule modifications in several cancer types. Few data are available on sarcomas. We analyzed COVID-19-related diagnostic delay in a sarcoma referral center in Italy.

Narrative Medicine: A Digital Diary in the Management of Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Patients. Preliminary Results of a Multidisciplinary Pilot Study.

Background: Guidelines for the implementation of narrative medicine in clinical practice exist; however, in Italy, no standard methodology is currently available for the management of oncological patients. Since 2017, at the "Regina Elena" National Cancer Institute, studies using "digital narrative diaries" (DNMLAB platform) have been carried out; this article focuses on a pilot, uncontrolled, real-life study aiming to evaluate the utility of DNM integrated with the care pathway of patients with bone and limb soft tissue sarcomas.

Methods: Adult patients completed the diary during treatment or follow-up by writing their narrative guided by a set of narrative prompts.

Symptoms and their implications on quality of life and psychological distress in sarcoma patients.

The aim of this study was to investigate symptoms, their variation over time and their relationship with quality of life (QoL)/psychological distress in sarcoma patients, as few data regarding QoL and psychological distress in this set of patients are currently available. A total of 188 sarcoma patients from an Italian referral center were involved. Symptoms and financial difficulties were evaluated with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire from the first treatment and over the follow-up period, up to 6 years.

The Real-Life Journey of Elderly Patients in Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcomas: A Retrospective Analysis from a Sarcoma Referral Center.

The high complexity of multimodality treatment frequently results in undertreatment of elderly sarcoma patients, and this may be one of the factors that influence their prognosis. We describe the real-life approach to a population of patients aged over 70 with both soft tissue (STS) and bone sarcomas (BS) followed by our Sarcoma Disease Management Team from 2012 to 2017. One-hundred and twenty-three patients with a median age of 77 years (range: 70-92) were identified.

Sarcoma patients' quality of life from diagnosis to yearly follow-up: experience from an Italian tertiary care center.

To investigate sarcoma patients' perception of quality of life and psychosocial distress across the different disease's stages.  Total 329 sarcoma patients were monitored from diagnosis up to a maximum of six consecutive follow-up visits. Functional status worsened over time with the lowest value after surgery and a full recovery not earlier than the second follow-up visit.

The course of cancer related fatigue up to ten years in early breast cancer patients: What impact in clinical practice?

Little is known about the cancer related fatigue (CRF) along cancer course and risk factors that could predict CRF development and persistence in breast cancer (BC) survivors. This prospective study detected incidence, timing of onset, duration of CRF, impact on QoL and psychological distress. Seventy-eight early BC patients, undergoing chemotherapy (CT) followed or not by hormonal therapy were assessed for QoL and psychological distress by EORTC QLQC30 and HADs questionnaires.