Annual Report 2017

Yosuke Uchitomi, Yutaka Matsuoka, Sadamoto Zenda, Eriko Satomi, Ken Shimizu, Masashi Kato, Yasuhito Uezono, Takuhiro Yamaguchi, Miki Kawahara, Tempei Miyaji, Yumi Kikukawa, Ayako Sato, Koji Washizuka, Chikako Kusano, Masanori Mori, Shino Umezawa, Maiko Fujimori, Fumio Nagashima

Introduction

 We established the Innovation Center for Supportive, Palliative and Psychosocial Care at the National Cancer Center Hospital Japan. Then we founded J-SUPPORT (Japan Supportive, Palliative and Psychosocial Oncology Group) as an opened hub of a multi-institutional collaborative clinical research for supportive, palliative and psychosocial care and started research management throughout Japan. This group has five research areas: I) medicine and device development, IIa) supportive care, IIb) palliative care, IIIa) psycho-oncology, IIIb) survivorship care, IV) research methodology, and V) needs survey and implementation (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Organization of J-SUPPORT

Our team and what we do

 We cooperate in providing consultation services and expert advice on clinical research design and statistical analysis to investigators as they launch new research projects in the field of supportive, palliative, and psychosocial care. This service includes face-to-face clinical design and biostatistics consultation, and we adjust a collaborative study with other study groups and institutions.

Research activities

 We held protocol review committees, and we approved nine studies as the J-SUPPORT study (Table 1). Four studies of them were approved by the institutional review boards of researchers' institutes, and recruiting of participants are currently ongoing. For J-SUPPORT study support, we developed a structure of operation system: established a data management team and an independent data monitoring committee. We prepared a form of a monthly report of the J-SUPPORT study, adverse event report, and privacy policy of J-SUPPORT. After we released the J-SUPPORT website and Facebook page, 214 people registered as J-SUPPORT members (Medical doctors 108; Nurses 28; Pharmacists 29; Others 49). Through this website, we have consulted 11 studies from J-SUPPORT members. We are supporting each research with research mentors.

Table 1. J-SUPPORT Study

Clinical trials

・A scripted video-vignette study to explore the best practice in prognostic disclosure

・Topical steroid versus placebo for the prevention of radiation dermatitis in head and neck cancer patients receiving chemoradiotherapy: a phase III, randomized, double-blind trial

・Nurse-led, screening-triggered early specialized palliative care intervention program for advanced lung cancer patients: a randomized controlled trial

・Efficacy and safety of olanzapine 5mg in combination with standard antiemetic therapy for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients receiving cisplatin-

 based highly emetogenic chemotherapy: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III clinical trial

・Yokukansan for perioperative psychiatric symptoms in cancer patients undergoing high invasive surgery : a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

・Efficacy of prophylactic use of hydrocolloid dressing for hand-foot skin reaction by multi targeted kinase inhibitors: a phase III randomized, self-controlled study

・Smartphone-based problem-solving treatment and behavioral activation intervention to re-

 duce fear of recurrence in breast cancer patients-

 SMILE study: a randomized controlled trial

・A randomized controlled trial of integrated support program for promoting empathetic communication among rapid progressive cancer patients, families and physicians

(Cohort study)

・Quality of palliative care for end-of-life cancer patients and retrospective cohort study of unsolved clinical question of palliative care from administrative claims data

Education

 We held an educational training "1st J-SUPPORT clinical research concept developments workshop" by nine research instructors (2018.1.12-13). Twenty-two researchers participated in it.

Future prospects

 We plan to hold a protocol review committee regularly and are going to support research activity. According to a roadmap (Figure 2), we plan to expand J-SUPPORT as an opened hub to contribute to the development of supportive, palliative, and psychosocial care for cancer patients. We plan to make a policy of supportive care research and move the schedule forward to make a roadmap of each research area.

Figure 2. A roadmap of J-SUPPORT

List of papers published in January 2017 - March 2018

Journal

1. Higuchi Y, Inagaki M, Koyama T, Kitamura Y, Sendo T, Fujimori M, Kataoka H, Hayashibara C, Uchitomi Y, Yamada N. Emotional Intelligence and its Effect on Pharmacists and Pharmacy Students with Autistic-like Traits. Am J Pharm Educ, 81:74, 2017

2. Fujimori M, Akechi T, Uchitomi Y. Factors associated with patient preferences for communication of bad news. Palliat Support Care, 15:328-335, 2017

3. Fujiwara M, Inagaki M, Nakaya N, Fujimori M, Higuchi Y, Hayashibara C, So R, Kakeda K, Kodama M, Uchitomi Y, Yamada N. Cancer screening participation in schizophrenic outpatients and the influence of their functional disability on the screening rate: A cross-sectional study in Japan. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, 71:813-825, 2017

4. Matsuoka YJ, Sawada N, Mimura M, Shikimoto R, Nozaki S, Hamazaki K, Uchitomi Y, Tsugane S. Dietary fish, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid consumption, and depression risk in Japan: a population-based prospective cohort study. Transl Psychiatry, 7:e1242, 2017

5. Wada S, Inoguchi H, Hirayama T, Matsuoka YJ, Uchitomi Y, Ochiai H, Tsukamoto S, Shida D, Kanemitsu Y, Shimizu K. Yokukansan for the treatment of preoperative anxiety and postoperative delirium in colorectal cancer patients: a retrospective study. Jpn J Clin Oncol, 47:844-848, 2017

6. Fujiwara M, Inagaki M, Nakaya N, Fujimori M, Higuchi Y, Kakeda K, Uchitomi Y, Yamada N. Association between serious psychological distress and nonparticipation in cancer screening and the modifying effect of socioeconomic status: Analysis of anonymized data from a national cross-sectional survey in Japan. Cancer, 124:555-562, 2018

7. Inagaki M, Fujiwara M, Nakaya N, Fujimori M, Higuchi Y, Hayashibara C, So R, Kakeda K, Kodama M, Uchitomi Y, Yamada N. Low Cancer Screening Rates among Japanese People with Schizophrenia: A Cross-Sectional Study. Tohoku J Exp Med, 244:209-218, 2018

8. Kako J, Morita T, Yamaguchi T, Sekimoto A, Kobayashi M, Kinoshita H, Ogawa A, Zenda S, Uchitomi Y, Inoguchi H, Matsushima E. Evaluation of the Appropriate Washout Period Following Fan Therapy for Dyspnea in Patients With Advanced Cancer: A Pilot Study. Am J Hosp Palliat Care, 35:293-296, 2018

9. Hayashibara C, Inagaki M, Fujimori M, Higuchi Y, Fujiwara M, Terada S, Okamura H, Uchitomi Y, Yamada N. Confidence in communicating with patients with cancer mediates the relationship between rehabilitation therapists' autistic-like traits and perceived difficulty in communication. Palliat Support Care, 1-9, 2018