title: Palliative chemotherapy: oxymoron or misunderstanding?
abstract: Oncologists routinely prescribe chemotherapy for patients with advanced cancer. This practice is sometimes misunderstood by palliative care clinicians, yet data clearly show that chemotherapy can be a powerful palliative intervention when applied appropriately. Clarity regarding the term "palliative chemotherapy" is needed: it is chemotherapy given in the non-curative setting to optimize symptom control, improve quality of life, and sometimes to improve survival. Unfortunately, oncologists lack adequate tools to predict which patients will benefit. In a study recently published in BMC Palliative Care, Creutzfeldt et al. presented an innovative approach to advancing the science in this area: using patient reported outcomes to predict responses to palliative chemotherapy. With further research, investigators may be able to develop predictive models for use at the bedside to inform clinical decision-making about the risks and benefits of treatment. In the meantime, oncologists and palliative care clinicians must work together to reduce the use of "end-of-life chemotherapy"-chemotherapy given close to death, which does not improve longevity or symptom control-while optimizing the use of chemotherapy that has true palliative benefits for patients.
authors.affiliation: Moores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA. eroeland@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: E J
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3674-3573
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Roeland
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, 27710, USA.
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: LeBlanc
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D010166:Palliative Care; D011788:Quality of Life