The 2015 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium fostered thoughtful discussion and new insights among faculty and attendees. As part of the ASCO Connection Clinical Conversations series, Symposium leadership have selected questions submitted during sessions by attendees via the electronic question-and-answer system (eQ&A) that could not be addressed in the time available onsite.  

Ralph J. Hauke, MD, FACP, of Nebraska Cancer Specialists, and Charles L. Loprinzi, MD, of Mayo Clinic, co-chaired Oral Abstract Session A. Other session participants included:

• Judith Vick, Johns Hopkins University
• Rachelle E. Bernacki, MD, MS, Ariadne Labs
• Joanna Paladino, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Anthony L. Back, MD, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
• Rudolph M. Navari, MD, PhD, Indiana University School of Medicine
• Sanders Chang, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Larry Einhorn, MD, Indiana University

In the following Q&A, Dr. Navari addresses some of the unanswered questions posed during Oral Abstract Session A on the use of olanzapine.

If the patient is on another antipsychotic, does it affect the ordering of olanzapine?

RN: Patients who were on another antipsychotic were excluded from the study. Patients on another antipsychotic should probably not be given olanzapine.

Could you please address the lack of acceptance of use in skilled-nursing facilities that have rules and regulations for antipsychotics?

RN: Use of olanzapine for patients in skilled-nursing facilities should be addressed on an individual basis

On the study looking at role of olanzapine, were any patient-reported outcomes in quality of life or bother from nausea looked at? With an average nausea score of 1 to 2, I’m wondering how bothersome that low of a nausea score actually was to the patients.

RN: There were no quality-of-life measurements in the study to determine how/if nausea affected quality of life. Our assumption was that any nausea would result in a deterioration of quality of life.

Read more 2015 Palliative Care in Oncology Clinical Conversations:

• General Session 1: Improving Communication—Best Practices and Novel Tools
• General Session 2: Cachexia—Bench
• Oral Abstract Session B