Turkish Journal of Oncology Turkish Society for Radiation Oncology
Article Open Access Volume 30 · Issue 4 · 2015 pp. 175–187

Symptom clusters in cancer patients which are determined statistics way: a review of the literature

Sevcan ATAY
1 Ankara Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi, Hemşirelik Bölümü, Ankara
Published: 2015 Article ID: 927
Abstract
OBJECTIVES

Symptom clusters are defined as two or more concurrent
symptoms that are related and may or may not have a common
cause. The aim of this study was to investigate the cluster
of symptoms in cancer patients.


METHODS

Medline, PubMed, and Cochrane can be accessed online.
These resources and printed journals were screened in Turkey.
Studies that investigated predetermined clusters were not
included.


RESULTS

We identified seven individual studies and one group of five
studies validating the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory.
Two of the seven individual studies and the group of five studies
that had validated the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory
included patients with any cancer type; another studies
included breast cancer patients; and two studies included lung
cancer patients only.


CONCLUSION

Research on symptom clusters is still at an early stage. Multiple
symptoms clearly affect prognosis, quality of life, and
functional status. The study of symptom clusters has important
implications regarding patient management.

Keywords: Cancer; symptom cluster

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