Epidemiology is a vital tool of public health. The usefulness of epidemiology is not only about numbers of persons' ill in the community but also to understand the associations, the presentation, identification of new syndromes, to map the historical trends, and calculate morbid risk. The emotional impact of the diagnosis of cancer is well-recognized. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/dabrafenib-gsk2118436.html Indian cancer research relating to the psychosocial aspects has been largely limited to counting the numbers with psychiatric syndromes. The review covers 12 years of the Indian research in psycho-oncology to understand the different aspects of epidemiology. During the review period, there are growing number of epidemiological studies (29); psychiatric morbidity ranges from 41.7% to 46%; and prevalence rate ranges from 4.4% to 97.8% for anxiety and 1.2%-89.9% for depression; majority of the studies have used one-stage screening for assessment, which is not the ideal method of identifying mental disorders. The severity of the disorders is presented only in nine studies. Quality of life is the most common associated dimension of the studies. There is the absence of studies of posttraumatic growth, resilience, and spirituality. This review calls for greater rigor in the planning of studies of emotional impact, especially the use of two-stage method, longitudinal studies, studies of different types of cancer and in different stages, include additional measures such as disease burden, coping, resilience, spirituality, and the family/social factors to understand the emotional aspects of living with cancer. There is a need for describing the emotional aspects of living with cancer (lived-in experiences) beyond the clinical syndromes. Copyright © 2020 Indian Journal of Palliative Care.In near future, the elderly population will increase to a high proportion. This will increase the burden of Age-Related Diseases (ARDs) to a significant level. Most of the ARDs need palliative care (PC) for a fairly long duration. Some statistical extrapolations are discussed to help in identifying this future burden. The existing PC centers are limited in numbers, situated mainly in urban areas, and mostly attached to cancer hospitals. Socioeconomic vulnerabilities of the elderly, especially in rural areas, are high, and access to health is also not optimal. In the coming decades, the number of needy people, as well as the demand for PC, will increase. Existing numbers indicate that exponential increment in quantum and quality of PC services is required to deal with the imminent burden. Specific suggestions are made to use existing public health programs to cater to the rural elderly. Copyright © 2020 Indian Journal of Palliative Care.Life-limiting diseases such as cancers and its related treatments often compromise normal oral microbial flora and predispose a palliative patient to diverse oral infections. Knowledge on microbial flora in the oral cavity of patients with life-limiting diseases is essential to develop treatment options for clinical practitioners. This review aimed to systematically synthesize the published evidence on the oral microbiology of palliative patients. An integrative review was undertaken with defined search strategy from five databases with manual search through key journals and reference list. Studies included were published during the year 2000-2017 focusing on microbiological evidence associated with oral conditions among palliative patients. Candida presence was reported in the oral cavity of terminally ill patients in seven of nine articles, with Candida albicans being the predominant species. The majority of the included studies used oral swabs as a technique for isolation of the organism. This review is first to systematically synthesize the published evidence on the oral microbial flora of palliative patients, taking into account the techniques for identification of the microbiota. Larger multicenter studies may help in developing standardized clinical guidelines for the oral care of these patients. Copyright © 2020 Indian Journal of Palliative Care.Background Exercises such as walking are prescribed for the patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy, but only a few studies include pedometers in conjunction with the routine exercises prescribed. Thus, the aim was to find if the adherence and performance of exercise is improved or has no impact if coupled with the physical activity monitors. Methods A systematic search using the keywords was conducted in PubMed Central, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Scopus. The search revealed 275 articles, of which 3 randomized controlled trials were selected for qualitative analysis based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the review. Results The three studies retrieved by the systematic review have used different protocols of pedometer-based walking on patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy and studied the following outcome measures fatigue, body composition, quality of life, and psychological factors. Conclusion The evidence obtained from the review suggests that pedometer-based walking programs have a positive impact on cancer-related fatigue and overall quality of life of patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy. Copyright © 2020 Indian Journal of Palliative Care.Background Breast cancer disease and its classic treatment lead to decrease in patients' quality of life (QOL). This systematic review aimed to compare the effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) categories on the QOL of women with breast cancer. Methods English clinical trials from PubMed, Emabase, Scupos, and Google Scholar databases were searched electronically by the end of 2018 with the Cochrane Collaboration protocol. Two researchers independently extracted data such as participants' characteristics, CAM methods, QOL assessment tools. CAMs were classified into three categories of dietary supplements, herbal medicine, and mind-body techniques. Results During the initial search, 1186 articles were found. After reviewing titles, abstracts, and full texts based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 28 clinical trials were included in the systematic review, 18 of which was randomized controlled trial (RCT). Participants included women with breast cancer who were undergoing the first three phases of breast cancer or postcancer rehabilitation.