Table 5.

Questions That May Be Useful to Guide Future Cancer Symptom Clusters Research

Assessment of Symptom Clusters What is the optimal number of symptoms on an assessment tool to evaluate symptoms clusters? Does the optimal symptom cluster assessment need to include both a core set of symptoms as well as “situation-specific” symptoms (e.g., tailored symptom list for specific cancers or specific treatments)? What is the optimal dimension of the symptom experience to use to assess symptom clusters (i.e., occurrence, severity, distress)? Should multiple dimensions of the symptom experience be used to assess symptom clusters?

Specificity of Symptom Clusters by Patient Characteristics, Cancer Diagnosis and Treatments Across cancer diagnoses, are symptom clusters consistent in terms of number of clusters and symptoms within each cluster? Across cancer treatments are symptom clusters consistent in terms of number of clusters and symptoms within each cluster? Do symptom clusters in patients with cancer or in patients undergoing cancer treatment differ by age, gender, or ethnicity? Do symptom clusters in patients with cancer or in patients undergoing cancer treatment differ by co-morbidities, functional status, or social status?

Changes in Symptom Clusters Over Time Within a cancer diagnosis, do symptom clusters change over time? Within a cancer treatment modality, do symptom clusters change over time? Within a cancer diagnosis, does the severity of the symptoms within a symptom cluster change over time? Within a cancer treatment modality, does the severity of the symptoms within a symptom cluster change over time?