ArticleBMJ open2020
Effect of early palliative care for patients with glioblastoma (EPCOG): a randomised phase III clinical trial protocol.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early palliative interventions for improving outcomes in people with a primary malignant brain tumour and their carers.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Early palliative care for patients with glioblastoma: A randomized phase III clinical trial (EPCOG).Neuro-oncology · 2026Trial
- Retrospective Characterization of Specialized Palliative Care in Patients With Gliomas.Journal of the advanced practitioner in oncology · 2026Article
- Conducting a randomized controlled clinical trial on palliative care in patients with glioblastoma - what are the challenges?Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Review
- Defining "early palliative care" for adults diagnosed with a life-limiting illness: a scoping review.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- Prospective assessment of end-of-life symptoms and quality of life in patients with high-grade glioma.Neuro-oncology practice · 2024Article
- Current status of advance care planning, palliative care consultation, and end-of-life care in patients with glioblastoma in South Korea.The oncologist · 2024Article
- Clinician perspectives on integrating neuro-oncology and palliative care for patients with high-grade glioma.Neuro-oncology practice · 2024Article
- Challenges and Promise for Glioblastoma Treatment through Extracellular Vesicle Inquiry.Cells · 2024Review
- Pattern of care of brain tumor patients in the last months of life: analysis of a cohort of 3045 patients in the last 10 years.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2023Article
- Palliative care referral across the disease trajectory in high-grade glioma.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2023Article
- A retrospective chart review to identify the involvement of palliative care with glioblastoma multiforme patients.Canadian oncology nursing journal = Revue canadienne de nursing oncologique · 2023Article
- Article
- Trends and outcomes of early and late palliative care consultation for adult patients with glioblastoma: A SEER-Medicare retrospective study.Neuro-oncology practice · 2022Article
- Management of newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme: current state of the art and emerging therapeutic approaches.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2022Review
- Palliative care of older glioblastoma patients in neurosurgery.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2022Review
- Easing the Journey-an Updated Review of Palliative Care for the Patient with High-Grade Glioma.Current oncology reports · 2022Review
- The application of feature engineering in establishing a rapid and robust model for identifying patients with glioma.Lasers in medical science · 2022Article
- Ethics consultations in neuro-oncology.Neuro-oncology practice · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
24 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionRandomised controlled trials (RCTs) have shown a positive effect of early integration of palliative care (EIPC) in various advanced cancer entities regarding patients' quality of life (QoL), survival, mood, caregiver burden and reduction of aggressiveness of treatment near the end of life. However, RCTs investigating the positive effect of EIPC for patients suffering from glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are lacking. After modelling work identifying the specific needs of GBM patients and their caregivers, the aim of this study is to investigate the impact of EIPC in this particular patient group. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The recruitment period of this multicenter RCT started in May 2019. GBM patients (n=214) and their caregivers will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group (receiving proactive EIPC on a monthly basis) or the control group (receiving treatment according to international standards and additional, regular assessment of QoL ('optimised' standard care)).The primary outcome is QoL assessed by subscales of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy for brain tumour (FACT-Br) from baseline to 6 months of treatment. Secondary outcomes are changes in QoL after 12 (end of intervention), 18 and 24 months (end of follow-up), the full FACT-Br scale, patients' palliative care needs, depression/anxiety, cognitive impairment, caregiver burden, healthcare use, cost-effectiveness and overall survival. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study will be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and has been approved by the local ethics committees of the University Clinics of Cologne, Aachen, Bonn, Freiburg and Munich (LMU). Results of the trial will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed, open access journal and disseminated through presentations at conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: German Register for Clinical Studies (DRKS) (DRKS00016066); Pre-results.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.