The impact on quality of life from informing diagnosis in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to assess the impact on quality of life from informing patients with cancer of their diagnosis and disease status. METHOD: We searched the follow databases, PubMed, CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials), PsycINFO, WEB OF SCIENCE, Embase, CBM (Chinese Biomedical Literature database), WANFANG database (Chinese Medicine Premier), and CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), using the following terms: neoplasm, cancer, tumor, tumor, carcinoma, disclosure, truth telling, breaking bad news, knowledge, knowing, awareness, quality of life, QOL. Pairs of reviewers independently screened documents and extracted the data, and the meta-analysis was performed using Revman 5.0 software. RESULTS: Eleven thousand seven hundred forty records retrieved from the databases and 23 studies were included in the final analysis. A meta-analysis revealed that there were no differences in either the general quality of life and symptoms of fatigue, pain, dyspnea, insomnia, appetite loss, and diarrhea, between informed and uniformed cancer patients (P > 0.05). There were also no differences found between the patient groups in physical function, role function, cognitive activity, and emotional function (P > 0.05). In terms of vitality, patients who were completely informed about their diagnosis showed higher vitality than uniformed patients. Uninformed patients seemed to have lower social function scores. Between partly informed and uninformed cancer patients, no differences were found in their general quality of life, function domains, and disease-related symptoms (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Informing cancer patients of their diagnosis may not have a detrimental effect on their quality of life. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CRD42017060073 .

Surgical interventions combined with photodynamic therapy in the treatment of Perifolliculitis Capitis Abscendens et Suffodiens: Report of 5 cases.

Perifolliculitis capitis abscedens et suffodiens (PCAS), also known as dissecting cellulitis of the scalp (DCS), is a rare, chronic, suppurative inflammatory disease of the scalp which may evolve into cicatricial alopecia. Its refractory nature has a detrimental impact on patients' quality of life. Here, we report five cases of PCAS treated with 5% 5-aminolevulinic acid-based photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT), prior to which different methods of surgical intervention were given. The surgical interventions were under local anesthesia. In general, all surgical interventions, pretreatments and PDT were well tolerated. 4 patients showed complete clearance of lesions and 1 patient attained significant improvement of symptoms 1 month after treatment. This suggested that surgical interventions, combined with topical ALA-PDT could be an effective, minimally-invasive, and safe alternative for PCAS, especially for cases recalcitrant to other conventional therapies.