Many Patients at End of Life Still Receiving Cancer Therapy
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Despite a growing focus on reducing aggressive therapy at the end of life and integrating palliative care sooner, the use of systemic anticancer therapy in the last weeks of patients' lives has remained relatively unchanged, a new analysis revealed.
Researchers found that the use of systemic therapy at the end of life for all cancer types remained the same between 2015 and 2019; however, the type of treatment used did shift. Patients received less chemotherapy but more immunotherapy during this period. -
@guna Cancer is often likened to a battle that must be won, and our weapons are treatment options. Previous research has shown that the use of systemic anticancer therapy at the end of life is associated with late hospice enrollment, higher costs, and potentially adverse quality and length of life. In 2012, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the National Quality Forum developed a quality measure to help reduce the use of chemotherapy at the end of life. But with many new targeted therapy options approved in recent years, the study authors wanted to understand whether patterns of care at the end of life have changed.