Anaplastic gliomas: end-of-life care recommendations.
Despite multimodal antitumor treatment, all patients with an anaplastic glioma will be confronted with incurability in due course and enter the end-of-life (EOL) phase; the period when the patients' condition declines and tumor-directed treatment is no longer effective. Although palliative care is important in all stages of the disease, it is of utmost importance in the EOL phase. The main goal of palliative care is to improve or maintain the quality of life of the patients and their relatives through the prevention and relief of suffering. This review focuses on different aspects of the EOL phase (symptoms and signs, EOL decision-making, advance care planning, organization of care and caregiver burden) and will provide recommendations to optimize palliative care.
VU University Medical Center, Department of Neurology, POBOX 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Linda
L
Dirven
VU University Medical Center, Department of Neurology, POBOX 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Eefje M
EM
Sizoo
VU University Medical Center, Department of Neurology, POBOX 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Medical Center Haaglanden, Department of Neurology, The Hague, The Netherlands.
Martin J B
MJ
Taphoorn
D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D003657:Decision Making; D005910:Glioma / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000592:standards
advance care planning; brain tumor; caregiver burden; end of life; end-of-life decision-making; glioma; organization of care; palliative care