For patients receiving chemotherapy, use of an Advanced Symptom Management System (ASyMS) for real-time remote symptom mon- itoring reduces symptom burden, according to a study published in The BMJ. Investigators conducted a multicenter trial involving 829 pa- tients with nonmetastatic breast cancer, colo- rectal cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, or non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma receiving first-line adju- vant chemotherapy or chemotherapy for the first time in 5 years. Participants were random- ly assigned to either ASyMS or standard care (415 and 414 participants, respectively) during six cycles of chemotherapy. Symptom burden re- mained at prechemotherapy treatment levels in the intervention group, while controls reported an increase from cycle 1 onward. Significant re- ductions were seen in favor of ASyMS for the global distress index, psychological symptoms, and physical symptoms subdomains of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale. Across all cycles, for the intervention group, Function- al Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General scores were higher, while mean scores were lower for State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Revised trait and state anxiety. The intervention group had higher Communication and Attitudinal Self-Efficacy scale for cancer scores and lower scores in most domains of the Supportive Care Needs Survey Short-Form 34. “Our findings are relevant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the authors wrote. “The cancer community faces unprecedent- ed challenges in delivering chemotherapy, but ASyMS can provide a safe, secure, and ‘real time’ system that optimizes symptom management and supports patients to remain at home.”
