EPCRC: Improved treatment of pain, depression and fatigue through translation research
Pain, depression and fatigue are subjective clinical manifestations of advanced cancer, affecting large patient groups. Even today, our understanding and management of these symptoms and conditions are insufficient. This project aims at improving the care by addressing diagnosis and classification as well as the underlying mechanisms. This will be done through research in several areas, in cooperation between clinicians, clinical researchers, and basic scientists.
The European Palliative Care Research Collaborative (EPCRC) consists of eight participating centres from six European countries: UK, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Norway.
The overall objectives are to develop new genetic methods for predicting individual variation of fatigue/Cachexia and response to opioid treatment for pain, and methods for assessment and classification of pain, fatigue (cachexia), and depression.
The collaborative´s proposal was successfully evaluated in 2006 and received EU funding for a three year period.
Guidelines
EUROPEAN CLINICAL GUIDELINES
The EPCRC has issued new evidence-based guidelines to aid clinicians across Europe in providing optimal palliative care. The guidelines are the culmination of a four-year programme of work to transform the management of cancer cachexia, pain and depression through translational research. The recommendations were developed through a process of systematic review and European expert consensus.
The DEPRESSION and CACHEXIA guidelines were published in February 2011 and can be accessed below, along with patient friendly versions.
The supporting evidence for the updated OPIOID guidelines consists of 17 systematic reviews and was published in a spesial issue of Palliative Medicine in July 2011. The guideline itself has been accepted for publication in Lancet Oncology and will be published in early 2012.
The table of contents for the July 2011 special issue of Palliative Medicine may be accessed here. A complete list of publications from the EPCRC project may be accessed here.
New European Clinical Guideline: THE MANAGEMENT OF DEPRESSION IN PALLIATIVE CARE
The EPCRC Work Package 3.2 team at King's College London have developed a new, European Clinical Guideline on the Mangement of Depression in Palliative Care. This has been a comprehensive process involving expert and public consultations and literature reviews, including a Cochrane review on the use of antidepressants for depression in physically ill people. A journal paper on the guideline was published in the European Journal of Cancer in January 2011. The full guideline may be accessed below, along with a patient friendly summary in five European languages.
New European Guidelines: CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINES ON CANCER CACHEXIA IN ADVANCED CANCER PATIENTS
The EPCRC cachexia work team has produced new European, clinical guidelines on the management of cancer cachexia in advanced cancer patients, with a focus on refractory cachexia. This has been a comprehensive process involving expert and public consultations and literature reviews. The final guideline may be accessed below, together with a patient friendly summary (leaflet) in five European languages.
