Does palliative chemotherapy provide a palliative effect on symptoms in late palliative stages? An interview study with oncologists

AbstractBackground: The possible chemotherapy effects on symptoms in late stages of palliative chemotherapy are seldom registered in clinical practice or investigated as primary outcomes. The aim was therefore to study physicians’ opinions and experiences about chemotherapy effects on symptoms.Material and methods: Thirty-five physicians (mainly oncologists) with variation as regards age, gender and experience were included in a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews. A qualitative content analysis was used for the 30–60 min long interviews.Results: According to all the informants, symptoms were possible to control in successful cases but the chances reduce rapidly with the number of chemotherapy lines. Symptoms possible to control included various types of pain (bone pain, neuropathic cranial as well as meningeal nerve pain, colic pain, “liver” pain, headache and pain from cutaneous metastases); nausea and vomiting caused by obstruction; dyspnoea due to pleural effusions or bronchial obstructi...