Patient cancer care education aims to inform and empower patients by providing clear, relevant information about cancer, including its mechanisms, treatment options, and management strategies. This study evaluated the effectiveness and accuracy of existing patient cancer care education materials in Malaysia, specifically assessing patients’ understanding of treatment, side effects, and their management. Method: A descriptive, correlational study was conducted involving 20 cancer patients at Gleneagles Penang Medical Center, using the Patient Cancer Education Needs Assessment questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 21.0 and Microsoft Excel 2013. Result: Patient age, education level, occupation, and socioeconomic status were not significant factors influencing understanding. Findings highlight the need to improve existing educational materials to enhance patient comprehension and ensure materials are comprehensive, culturally appropriate, and innovative. Conclusion: Patient cancer care education materials should be comprehensive, interactive, and patient is friendly. Current materials require revision and enhancement to keep pace with technological developments, ensuring they are accessible, understandable, and effective in supporting patients’ knowledge of cancer treatment, side effects, management strategies, and psychosocial aspects.

Purpose: Adjuvant radiotherapy (RT), while effective in reducing cancer recurrence and improving survival rates, often comes with radiation toxicity that can adversely affect the patient’s quality of life (QoL). Evaluating toxicity after RT is crucial because it helps to identify and manage adverse effects that can significantly impact a patient’s QoL. By monitoring toxicity, we can adjust treatment plans to mitigate these effects, improve patient comfort, and ensure a better overall outcome. Therefore this study aimed to evaluate and compare QoL following 3D-conformal hypofractionated RT in breast cancer patients. Methods: We included twenty-one Malaysian women with unilateral breast cancer treated with lumpectomy (n=15) or mastectomy (n=6) followed by 3D-conformal hypofractionated RT. QoL was evaluated using the EORTC QLQ-BR45 questionnaire before, during, and after RT. Results: During RT, there was a significant increase in the mean score of the breast symptoms scale compared to baseline (p=0.002), with the most common symptoms being skin problems, followed by swelling and oversensitivity. However, these symptoms were generally mild for most patients. The other quality of life scales remained stable during RT. Post-RT, most QoL scales showed improvements compared to both baseline and during RT, with significant enhancements in the mean breast symptoms score and breast satisfaction score (all p<0.05). Conclusion: Radiotherapy negatively impacted the QoL of our breast cancer patients, specifically on the breast symptoms scale. However, these symptoms improved after 4 months, resulting in high breast satisfaction and indicating a near-excellent cosmetic outcome. Future studies with larger cohorts are essential to validate these findings, as the small sample size (n=21 at baseline; n=13 post-RT) may have limited the detection of more subtle changes