New Cancer Clinical Guidelines Launch Online

Two new cancer clinical practice guidelines will be launched this week at national cancer meetings in Adelaide.
The guidelines, covering management of cancer pain and management of sarcoma, have been developed in an online wiki format to assist health professionals and their patients to make informed treatment choices based on the most current research available.
Cancer pain management in adults, to be launched at the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia’s (COSA’s) Annual Scientific Meeting, provides brief, point-of-care recommendations for screening, assessment and management of cancer-related pain in adults.
Chair of the Pain Management Guidelines Working Party, Dr Melanie Lovell, said the guideline made recommendations about both pharmacological and non-pharmacological management, as well as patient awareness and self-management.
“An estimated 53% of people with cancer at any stage experience pain, and pain is under-treated in up to half of cases,” Dr Lovell said. “We know that good pain control is achievable for people living with cancer and this guideline makes the latest evidence-based assessment and management strategies available for health professionals across all settings in which people with cancer are given care. It also comes with patient resources to better enable patient involvement in their own pain management.”
Clinical practice guidelines for the management of adult onset sarcoma, developed by Cancer Council Australia in collaboration with the Australasian Sarcoma Study Group, will be launched at a meeting in Adelaide of the Australasian Sarcoma Study Group.
The guidelines provide recommendations based on the latest evidence on diagnosis, multidisciplinary treatment - including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and follow-up care.
Chair of the Sarcoma Guidelines Working Party, Associate Professor Susan Neuhaus, said approaches to the treatment of sarcoma differed from centre to centre and there had been no clearly articulated guideline for ‘best practice’ management of the disease.
“This small orphan cancer suffers from fragmented patterns of care based around state and centre orientations and philosophies,” Professor Neuhaus said. “Consequently, there is a significant variation in the way clinicians manage the disease. “This guideline will go a long way in helping to standardise best practice treatment of sarcoma.”
Both guidelines are available on Cancer Council Australia’s Cancer Guidelines Wiki at wiki.cancer.org.au