Lung cancer accounts for 12% of all cancers and has the highest annual rate of mortality in men and women. The overall aim is cure or prolongation of life without evidence of disease. Almost 60% of patients at the moment of diagnosis are not eligible for radical treatment. Therefore soothing and supportive treatment is the only treatment of choice. Patients with lung cancer who have symptoms of dyspnea, chronic cough, severe pain, exhaustion and cachexia syndrome, fear and depression and significantly reduced physical and intellectual activities are qualified for inpatient or home palliative care. Knowledge about various methods used in palliative treatment allows one to alleviate symptoms that occur in an advanced stage of disease with an expected short survival period. Methods of oncological treatment that are often used in patients with advanced lung cancer include radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Drawing attention to the earlier implementation of palliative care is an objective of research carried out during recent years. Advances in surgical and conservative treatment of these patients have contributed to better outcomes and longer survival time.

Neoplastic diseases are among the most common causes of death. The quality of life in neoplastic disease depends on the type of neoplasm, level of progression, location, treatment possibilities and prognosis. Cancer reduces the quality of life at the advanced stage of disease. At this time patients feel pain and suffering. Palliative care is used in the terminal phase of neoplastic disease. It includes overall care of an incurable patient and her/his family. The main objective of palliative care is meeting somatic and psycho-social requirements. Recently, more and more physicians dealing with oncological patients are moving away from treatment of the patient like an object. They pay attention to a subjective approach to treatment outcomes that are felt by the patient. The model of medicine is becoming a holistic one and during examination physicians pay attention to the patient's physical and mental state, economic condition, social situation, feelings or lack of complaints more often. Research on quality of life is becoming a vital part of medical examination.

Satisfaction with life and disease acceptance by patients with a stomy related to surgical treatment of the rectal cancer depend on multiple factors. Such factors as social support, life conditions and time that elapsed after stomy creation, are very important in this context.was to conduct an early evaluation of life satisfaction and disease acceptance by patients with a stomy related to surgical treatment of the rectal cancer.The study was conducted at Dr. Jan Biziel University Hospital No. 2 in Bydgoszcz and at the prof. F. Łukaszczyk Oncology Centre in Bydgoszcz in 2014. The final analysis included 96 subjects aged 41-87 years (median 59 years). Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) and Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) adapted by Zygfryd Juczyński, were used in this study.Most patients had satisfaction with life score of 5 or 6, 23 (24%) and 28 (29.2%) subjects, respectively. Twenty nine (30.2%) study subjects had low satisfaction level, while 16 (16.7%) had high satisfaction level. Average disease acceptance score was 23.2 points. Most patients, 71 (74%) had a moderate disease acceptance score, while the lowest number of subjects, 9 (9.4%), had high disease acceptance score. None of the study subjects who were under the care of a psychologist (14/100%) did not have a low acceptance level.Half of the study subjects had a moderate level of satisfaction with life. Most patients with stomy related to surgical treatment of the rectal cancer in an early postoperative period had moderate level of the disease acceptance. Patients with high level of satisfaction with life, accept the disease better. Few patients who used help by a psychologist, were two- and three-fold more likely to have higher level of satisfaction with life and disease acceptance, respectively.

IntroductionAn important part of the therapeutic process of patients with lung cancer undergoing palliative chemotherapy is to assess their mental well-being. Evaluation of the sense of coherence and acceptance of the disease, which reflects the degree of adaptation of the patient to live with the disease, provides information on this topic.ObjectiveThe primary objective was to assess the level of sense of coherence and acceptance of the disease in patients with lung cancer during palliative chemotherapy as well as coherence and acceptance together with socio-demographic factors. The secondary objective was to assess the economic impact of lung cancer on these patients.Material and methodsThe study involved 100 patients with lung cancer during palliative chemotherapy. The study was conducted using the Sense of Coherence Questionnaire (SOC-29), the Acceptance of Illness Scale, and a socio-demographic questionnaire.ResultsThe study group consisted mainly of men (66%), people with primary/vocational education (63%) and patients living in cities (59%). The average age of respondents was 62.8 years. 45% of patients had a high level of sense of coherence, and 44% had an average level. The average overall score of SOC was 143.9 points inside the upper range of average results. Levels of a sense of comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness remained in close relation to the average level: 48.91, 51.33, and 43.66 points, respectively. The average acceptance of the disease was 45% with the average total of 27.21 points.ConclusionsMost patients during palliative chemotherapy because of lung cancer had average or high level of coherence and acceptance of the disease. The level of sense of coherence and acceptance of the disease was not affected by gender, age, education, or place of residence. Almost all patients incur costs associated with treatment, and in some of them the disease affected the source of income.

Aim of the studyTo evaluate the intensity of dejection and self-assessment of quality of life in patients with lung cancer from the start of palliative care until death.Material and methodsThe study included 63 patients with lung cancer from the start of care until death in palliative medicine centers in Bydgoszcz in 2012–2013. The visual-analogue scale constituting part of the ESAS scale was used to assess dejection, while question number 30 of the EORTC QLQ-C30 was used for self-assessment of quality of life.Results“Moderate” and “very” intense dejection initially occurred in 19 (30%) and 24 (38%), and in the 2nd assessment in as many as 23 (36%) and 30 (48%) patients. Average quality of life deteriorated in this respect by 0.09 in the two-step scale (p = 0.005). Increase in the intensity of “moderate” dejection occurred between the 1st and 3rd assessment. Initially it occurred in 2 (9%) patients and in 14 (66%) during the 3rd assessment. In contrast, the levels of “very” severe dejection did not change significantly between the 1st and the 3rd assessment. The average quality of life deteriorated by 0.23 points (p = 0.004). A significant relationship was found only between analgesic treatment and quality of life (p < 0.0005). Other factors such as age, time from diagnosis to start of treatment, place of residence, sex, or financial condition did not affect the quality of life.ConclusionsSelf-assessment of the quality of life worsens with time. The intensity of dejection does not change in the last 3 weeks of life. In multivariate analysis, among the selected variables such as age, sex, place of residence, time from diagnosis to start of palliative care, financial condition, and type of painkillers used, only the latter has an impact on self-assessed quality of life.