Diarrhoea in Adult Cancer Patients: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines
Published in 2018 - Ann Oncol (2018) 29 (Suppl 4): iv126–iv142
Authors: P. Bossi, A. Antonuzzo, N.I. Cherny, O. Rosengarten, S. Pernot, F. Trippa, U. Schuler, A. Snegovoy, K. Jordan & C.I. Ripamonti, on behalf of the ESMO Guidelines Committee
The ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diarrhoea in adult cancer patients is a comprehensive assessment of diarrhoea in oncological setting. The guidelines consider the risk of this symptom associated with several cancer-related therapies, comprising chemotherapy, targeted agents, immunotherapy, surgery and radiation. A specific focus is dedicated to other causes of diarrhoea in cancer patients (Clostridium difficile infection, enteral feeding, coeliac plexus block and diarrhoea due to surgical procedures); the clinical patterns of neutropaenic and non-neutropaenic enterocolitis as a potential acute life-threatening complication are also provided. The peculiarities of diarrhoea in elderly cancer patients are described, indicating how to deal with this frailer population. The guidelines also evaluate the importance of an accurate grading of diarrhoea symptoms; use of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) CTCAE system allows a clearer pattern of symptoms to be collected.