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Xuesong Han, PhD, on Medicaid Expansion and Receipt of Palliative Care Among Individuals Newly Diagnosed With Advanced-Stage Cancers
Xuesong Han, PhD, of the American Cancer Society, discusses findings showing that among newly diagnosed patients with stage IV cancers, Medicaid expansion was associated with increases in receipt of palliative care, although overall usage was low. The increase varied by cancer type. Improving...
Divya Gupta, MD, on Improving Advance Care Planning Conversations With Patients
Divya Gupta, MD, of the Stanford Cancer Center, discusses an intervention utilizing a computer model and lay care coaches to improve advance care planning conversations with patients who have metastatic cancer. The study, Dr. Gupta reports, showed a trend toward less intensive care for patients at...
Lena E. Winestone, MD, MSHP, on Health-Care Disparities in Hematologic Cancers: Real-World Data
Lena E. Winestone, MD, MSHP, of the University of California, San Francisco and Benioff Children’s Hospital, reviews different aspects of bias in treatment delivery, including patient selection for clinical trials; racial and ethnic disparities in survival for indolent non-Hodgkin diffuse large...
Robert Olson, MD, on Quality-of-Life Outcomes After Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy vs Standard-of-Care Palliative Treatments
Robert Olson, MD, of the BC Cancer Centre for the North, discusses a secondary analysis of the SABR-COMET trial, which showed there was a small magnitude decline in quality of life in both arms of the study but no associated detriment with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (Abstract 148).
2019 ASCO: Differences in End-of-Life Quality Measures Across U.S. Cancer Centers
In a study presented by Wasp et al at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 6507) studying variation in end-of-life care across cancer centers in the United States, researchers found quality of care was lower at centers that served a greater concentration of minorities. However, end-of-life care...
Site of Care May Affect Racial and Ethnic Minorities’ Access to Palliative Treatment
For patients at the end of life, palliative care can prolong survival and improve the quality of life for patients with a life-threatening illness and for their families—but studies have found that racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to receive end-of-life palliative care than...
Katherine C. Lee, MD, on Emergency Surgery and End-of-Life Care
Katherine C. Lee, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses her study findings that showed older patients with metastatic cancer who survived emergency general surgery experienced higher intensity end-of-life care than similar patients who did not undergo surgery (Abstract 56).
Mary E. Johnson on Holding Vigil With Dying Loved Ones
Mary E. Johnson, author of Stay With Me Awhile, discusses her play, a compilation of vigil stories from across cultures and religions, and the profound impact the performances have had on audience members.
Suleika Jaouad on Making the Most of a Life Interrupted: A Young Adult Perspective on Cancer
Suleika Jaouad, an Emmy Award–winning writer, advocate, and cancer survivor who was diagnosed at age 22 with myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia, discusses what she has learned about coping with cancer, learning from it, and growing beyond it.
Leslie J. Blackhall, MD, on Unregulated Opioid Access: Consequences and Outcomes
Leslie J. Blackhall, MD, of the University of Virginia, discusses abuse of opioids, prescribing responsibly, and reducing cancer pain while also decreasing the risk of misusing these agents.
2018 Palliative Care: Can an AI-Based App Help Manage Cancer-Related Pain?
A study of 112 patients with metastatic solid tumors found that the use of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based smartphone app reduced both the severity of patients’ reported pain and hospital admissions. After an 8-week period, patients who used the AI-powered app to monitor and address...
Geographic Differences in End-of-Life Cancer Care
When it comes to how much end-of-life care a patient with cancer receives, geography may, indeed, be destiny, according to new research led by Harvard Medical School that found differences in this type of cancer care across different parts of the country. The findings, published by Keating et al...
Palliative Care Preferences in Male Patients With Cancer
Men with advanced cancer are 30% less likely than women to consider palliative care, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) study. Researchers believe the findings reflect social norms about gender roles, as well as widespread messages in the media and society about...
A. Oliver Sartor, MD, on Issues in Immunotherapy
A. Oliver Sartor, MD, of Tulane University, speaks anecdotally about immunotherapy for prostate cancer and shares his experiences in speaking to patients with late-stage disease about the knowns, unknowns, risks, and toxicities of using a therapy outside the context of a clinical trial setting. The ...
Owen A. O’Connor, MD, PhD, on Issues in Immunotherapy
Owen A. O'Connor, MD, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center, shares his perspective on immunotherapy for patients with late-stage cancer in the context of a clinical trial setting and recent Right-to-Try legislation. The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of...
AMA Rejects Recommendation to Reaffirm Opposition to Medical Aid in Dying
On June 11, the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates voted 56% to 44% to reject a report by its Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) that recommended the AMA maintain its Code of Medical Ethics’ opposition to medical aid in dying. Instead, the House of Delegates...
Racial/Ethnic Disparities in the Quality of End-of-Life Care Among Patients With Lung Cancer
Significant disparities in the quality of end-of-life lung cancer care were found among racial/ethnic minorities, with higher odds of experiencing potentially preventable medical encounters during end of life as compared with non-Hispanic whites. These findings were published by Karanth et al in...
Updated ASTRO Guideline for Palliative Radiotherapy in Lung Cancer
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has issued an update to its clinical guideline for the use of palliative-intent radiation therapy for patients with incurable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Reflecting new evidence from randomized clinical trials, the guideline now...
Areej El-Jawahri, MD, on A Revolutionary Plan for End-of-Life Care
Areej El-Jawahri, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses a video tool that helps overcome communication barriers so that patients can make more informed decisions for end-of-life care and their preferences are respected.
Sandip Patel, MD, on Immunotherapy: New Developments and Toxicity Challenges
Sandip Patel, MD, of the University of California, San Diego, discusses diagnosing and managing immune-related adverse events from immune checkpoint blockade and the toxicities of these treatments.
Jamie Jacobs, PhD, on Early Integrated Palliative Care: The Positive Effects
Jamie Jacobs, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, discusses study results that showed integrating oncology and palliative care early in the course of treatment helps people with incurable lung and gastrointestinal cancers cope better and have an improved quality of life and less...
Michael Hoerger, PhD, on Early Palliative Care: Study Results
Michael Hoerger, PhD, of Tulane University, discusses the effect on quality of life, depression, and end-of-life care when physicians focus on coping or on decision-making and advance care planning (Abstract 154).
Jacob J. Strand, MD, on Dealing With Opioid Use Disorders
Jacob J. Strand, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, discusses tips and tools that clinicians can use to develop universal precautions for prescribing opioids in oncology and palliative care practice.
Thomas J. Smith, MD, on Palliative Care and Outpatient Treatment: Expert Perspective
Thomas J. Smith, MD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, discusses successful models of integrating palliative care into outpatient oncology.
Charles F. von Gunten, MD, PhD, on Palliative Care in Oncology: A Fellows Curriculum
Charles F. von Gunten, MD, PhD, of OhioHealth, discusses an online curriculum that changed younger physicians’ use of palliative medicine in practice during the year after fellowship training (Abstract 202).
Eric Roeland, MD, on Symptom Management: Expert Perspective
Eric Roeland, MD, of the University of California, San Diego, summarizes key papers delivered at the Palliative Care Symposium on managing insomnia, fatigue, nausea, and the ways in which physical therapy and nausea can reduce the side effect burden.
2017 ASCO Palliative Care: Yoga Can Be an Effective Supportive Therapy for People With Lung Cancer and Their Caregivers
In a feasibility trial of people with advanced lung cancer receiving radiation therapy and their caregivers, yoga was beneficial to both parties. These findings will be presented by Milbury et al at the upcoming 2017 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium in San Diego (Abstract 125). ...
2017 ASCO Palliative Care: People With Leukemia and Their Oncologists Have Vastly Different Perceptions of Prognosis
A study of 100 people with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) receiving chemotherapy found that patient and physician perceptions of treatment risk and the likelihood of a cure varied widely. Overall, patients tended to overestimate both the risk of dying due to treatment and the likelihood of a cure....
Integrative Therapies in Palliative Care Project
Palliative care professionals are invited to participate in a unique project sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. Collinge and Associates, Inc, is seeking interdisciplinary professionals to help develop and evaluate a new online continuing education (CE/CME) course on the use of integrative...
ESMO 2017: 'Triggers': A New Tool to Assess Patients’ Palliative Needs
A new tool to identify patients who would benefit from early palliative care was presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract LBA54_PR). The so-called “Triggers” tool, developed by the London Cancer Alliance to help clinicians in the...
Palliative Care May Substantially Decrease Health-Care Utilization in Patients With Advanced Cancer
A new population-based study shows that palliative care substantially decreased health-care utilization among Medicare beneficiaries with advanced cancer, resulting in less intensive care being delivered at the end of life. This included lower rates of hospitalization, fewer invasive procedures,...
Lack of Access to Transfusions Limits Hospice Use by Patients With Blood Cancer
A new survey finds that doctors would refer more patients with incurable blood cancers to hospice for end-of-life care if they could receive transfusions, which are generally not available because of hospice reimbursement policies. The findings, published by Odejide et al in Cancer, help explain...
Palliative Care Consultations for Patients With Advanced Cancers May Reduce Hospitalization and Improve Quality of Care
Patients admitted to the hospital with advanced cancers who were referred early to palliative care had decreased health-care utilization and increased use of support services following discharge, according to a new study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Published...
Palliative Radiation Therapy for Bone Metastases: Update of an ASTRO Evidence-Based Guideline
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) recently published an updated clinical guideline that underscores the safety and effectiveness of palliative radiation therapy for treating painful bone metastases. Based on recent clinical trial data, the guideline recommends optimal radiotherapy ...
ESMO Asia 2016: Study Validates Set of Six Adaptable Prognosis Prediction Models for Patients With Cancer in Palliative Care Settings
A routine blood test may predict how long patients with cancer in palliative care will survive, researchers reported at the ESMO Asia 2016 Congress in Singapore. “Cancer patients in palliative care want honest and accurate prognostic information but this information needs to be shared...
Effect of Inpatient Palliative Care on Quality of Life After Stem Cell Transplant
Integrating palliative care into the treatment of patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for cancers like leukemia and lymphoma can improve their quality of life, relieve symptoms associated with the procedure, and reduce depression and anxiety, not only during the 3- to 4-week ...
Prolonged Length of Stays, Readmissions, and Discharge to Care Facilities Among Postoperative Patients With Advanced Cancer
Patients with disseminated advanced cancer who undergo surgery are far more likely to endure long hospital stays and readmissions, referrals to extended care facilities, and death, University of California (UC) Davis researchers have found. Their study, published by Bateni et al in PLOS One,...
ESMO 2016: Researchers Identify Factors Associated With End-of-Life Chemotherapy Use
The rates of administering chemotherapy to patients with solid cancers within a month of succumbing to their disease remain high, which calls for a paradigm shift to consider initiating palliative care at an earlier stage and formulating clear guidelines for end-of-life care, according to findings...
Philippe Rochigneux, MD, on Solid Tumors: Use of Chemotherapy Near End of Life (French Language Version) 
Philippe Rochigneux, MD, of the Paoli Calmettes Institute, Marseille Cancer Center, discusses in French his findings on the high rates of chemotherapy used at the end of life for metastatic solid cancer, especially in young patients treated in high-volume centers without a palliative care unit....
Philippe Rochigneux, MD, on Solid Tumors: Use of Chemotherapy Near the End of Life
Philippe Rochigneux, MD, of the Paoli Calmettes Institute, Marseille Cancer Center, discusses his findings on the high rates of chemotherapy used at the end of life for metastatic solid cancer, especially in young patients treated in high-volume centers without a palliative care unit. (Abstract...
Palliative Care 2016: Rehospitalization of Patients With Advanced Cancer in the Year After Diagnosis
Among individuals with advanced cancer, frequent hospitalization is often at odds with patient preference and is increasingly viewed as a hallmark of poor quality care. Hospitalization contributes substantially to costs and regional spending variation in this population, but patterns and reasons...
Palliative Care 2016: Attitudes of ASTRO Members Toward Palliative and Supportive Care in the United States
Radiation oncologists are frequently involved in providing palliative and supportive care for patients with advanced cancers through delivery of palliative radiation. Whether they are confident in their ability to assess and initiate treatments for pain, nonpain, and psychosocial distress is...
Palliative Care 2016: Usage of Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act
In 1997, Oregon enacted a voter initiative allowing terminally ill residents to self-administer physician-prescribed medication to end their lives called the Oregon Death With Dignity Act (ORDWDA). Statute requires prescriptions written for lethal medications be reported; the state also collects...
Palliative Care 2016: Inpatient Palliative Care in Patients Hospitalized for HSCT
During hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), patients sometimes experience physical and psychological symptoms that negatively impact their quality of life. Researchers led by Areej El-Jawahri, MD, Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Bone Marrow Transplant...
Palliative Care 2016: Perception of Curability in Patients With Advanced Cancer Receiving Palliative Care
There are limited data on the illness understanding and perception of curability among patients with advanced cancer receiving palliative care around the world. In a study led by Sriram Yennu, MD, MS, Associate Professor in the Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine at The...
Randy L. Wei, MD, PhD, on Radiation Oncologists and Palliative Care
Randy L. Wei, MD, PhD, of the University of California, Irvine, discusses findings from a survey that focused on ASTRO members who assessed their ability to deliver palliative and supportive care, and their access to continuing medical education on the topic (Abstract 105).
Sriram Yennu, MD, on Patient Perception of Curability
Sriram Yennu, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses findings from a study of an international cohort of patients with advanced cancer who received palliative care. Nearly half the patients incorrectly believed their cancer was curable (Abstract 5).
Stephen T. Sonis, DMD, DMSc, on Radiotherapy-Induced Oral Complications
Stephen T. Sonis, DMD, DMSc, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and scope of oral complications of radiation therapy.
Jennifer S. Temel, MD, on The Changing Conversation Around Prognostication
Jennifer S. Temel, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses increasing prognostic uncertainty in light of targeted treatments and immunotherapies, and the difficulty predicting who will benefit.
Scott A. Irwin, MD, PhD, on Dealing With Delirium
Scott A. Irwin, MD, PhD, of Cedars-Sinai’s Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, discusses delirium—its definition, prevalence, consequences, assessment, and management.
