Aggressiveness of cancer care near the end of life: is it a quality-of-care issue?
The purpose of this article is to review the literature and update analyses pertaining to the aggressiveness of cancer care near the end of life. Specifically, we will discuss trends and factors responsible for chemotherapy overuse very near death and underutilization of hospice services. Whether the concept of overly aggressive treatment represents a quality-of-care issue that is acceptable to all involved stakeholders is an open question.
Earle
Craig C
CC
Division of Population Sciences, Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA. craig.earle@ices.on.ca
Landrum
Mary Beth
MB
Souza
Jeffrey M
JM
Neville
Bridget A
BA
Weeks
Jane C
JC
Ayanian
John Z
JZ
D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D018426:SEER Program; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents