Aggressive Cancer Care Research Articles

End of life care for people with dementia and comorbid cancer: recent studies and research gaps.

This narrative review examines recent research on end of life (EOL) care for people with dementia and comorbid cancer, highlighting the complexity and challenge of providing effective EOL care for this group and areas of interest for future research. People with cancer and dementia and their family/supporters have more complex care and support needs at EOL that are less well met than those of older adults with cancer alone, including questionable use of aggressive EOL care interventions, poorer access to specialist palliative care teams and poor pain management. Those diagnosed with dementia at the same time as, or after their cancer diagnosis, are at greater risk of aggressive EOL care and EOL cancer treatment and care plans that are not able to meet their care needs as dementia progresses. There is a lack of research on EOL care for people with cancer and dementia. There is little understanding of what good care for this population looks like and if and how EOL care can best meet the needs of people with cancer and dementia or their carers/supporters. More research is needed to inform improved care for this population.

Association of socioeconomic status with aggressive end-of-life care in patients with cancer before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1612 Background: Aggressive care near the end-of-life (EOL) reflects poor quality of cancer care.We examined the association between trends in aggressive EOL cancer care and socioeconomic status (SES) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted a population-based cohort study of adults diagnosed with cancer who died from 03/16/2015 to 03/15/2020 (pre-COVID-19 period) and from 03/16/2020 to 03/15/2021 (COVID-19 period). Aggressive EOL care was defined as a composite outcome of percentage (%) of patients with systemic anticancer therapy (SACT) use, >1 ED visit, >1 hospitalization, or ≥1 ICU admission in the last 30 days of life. We conducted an interrupted time series analysis using segmented linear regression, estimating monthly trends before, at the start of, and during the first year of the pandemic. Analyses were stratified by SES, based on area-level material deprivation quintiles (Q1, least; Q3, intermediate; Q5, most deprived). Results: Of 173,915 decedents with cancer (mean [SD] age 72.1 [12.5] years; females 45.9%), 59,613 (34.3% [95% CI, 34.1-34.5]) had aggressive EOL care; 10.3% (10.2-10.5) received SACT, 14.0% (13.8-14.2) had >1 ED visit, 10.3% (10.2-10.5) >1 hospitalization, and 13.4% (13.2-13.5) ≥1 ICU admission within 30 days of death. During the course of the pre-COVID-19 period, patients in Q1 (33.5% [33.0-34.1]) were less likely to receive aggressive care at the EOL than those in Q3 (34.1% [33.5-34.6]) or Q5 (34.8%, 95% CI, 34.3-35.3). Specifically, patients in Q1 were less likely to have ED visits (Q1, 12.9% vs Q3, 14.2% vs Q5, 14.9%), and hospitalizations (9.7% vs 10.3% vs 10.6%) than Q3 and Q5, and less likely to have ICU admissions than Q5 (13.1 vs 13.0% vs 14.4%); however, they were more likely to receive SACT at EOL (11.1% vs 9.9% vs 9.1%). During the pre-COVID-19 period, aggressive care increased by 0.032% (95% CI, 0.026-0.038, P < 0.0001) monthly; this increase was significant in Q1 (P = 0.002)but not in Q3 (P = 0.31) or Q5 (P = 0.21). Within Q1, there was a pre-COVID-19 increase in EOL SACT use (P < 0.0001)and ED visits (P = 0.04) but not inhospitalizations and ICU admissions. In March 2020, aggressiveness of care decreased by 2.37% (95% CI, -2.98 to -1.76, P = 0.0002), which was significant in Q5 (P = 0.04), but not Q1 (P = 0.07)or Q3 (P = 0.81). Within Q5, there was a decrease in EOL ED visits (P = 0.0008) but not in SACT use, hospitalizations, or ICU admissions. Conclusions: More than one third of adults with advanced cancer received aggressive EOL care, which increased in the 5 years prior to COVID-19 pandemic and was attenuated at its onset. Indicators of aggressive care differed by SES, with greatest SACT use in those with highest SES and greatest hospital services use in those with lowest SES. Measures to reduce aggressiveness of care should take into account disparities related to SES.

Radiation Therapy in the Last Month of Life: Association With Aggressive Care at the End of Life.

Half of the patients with cancer who undergo radiation therapy do so with palliative intent. To determine the proportion of undergoing radiation in the last month of life, patient characteristics, cancer course, the type and duration of radiation, whether palliative care was involved, and the of radiation with aggressive cancer care metrics. One thousand seven hundred twenty-seven patients who died of cancer between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2019, were included. Demographics, cancer stage, palliative care referral, advance directives, use of home health care, radiation timing, and survival were collected. Type of radiation, course, and intent were reviewed. Chi-square analysis was utilized for categorical variables, and Kruskal-Wallis tests for continuous variables. A stepwise selection was used to build a Cox proportional hazard model. Two hundred thirty-three patients underwent radiation in the last month of life. Younger patients underwent radiation 67.3 years (SD 11.52) versus 69.2 years (SD 11.96). 42.6% had radiation within two weeks of death. The average fraction number was 5.5. Individuals undergoing radiation were more likely to start chemotherapy within the last 30 days of life, continue chemotherapy within two weeks of death, be admitted to the ICU, and have two or more hospitalizations or emergency room visits. Survival measured from the date of diagnosis was shorter for those undergoing radiation, 122 days (IQR 58-462) versus 474 days (IQR 225-1150). Palliative care consultations occurred later in those undergoing radiation therapy. Radiation therapy in the last month of life occurs in younger patients with rapidly progressive cancer, who are subject to more aggressive cancer care, and have late palliative care consults.

Hospice Care Improves Patients’ Self-Decision Making and Reduces Aggressiveness of End-of-Life Care for Advanced Cancer Patients

The aim of the current study is to evaluate the different degrees of hospice care in improving patients' autonomy in decision-making and reducing aggressiveness of cancer care in terminal-stage cancer patients, especially in reducing polypharmacy and excessive life-sustaining treatments. This was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted in a single medical center in Taiwan. Patients with advanced cancer who died in 2010-2019 were included and classified into three subgroups: hospice ward admission, hospice shared care, and no hospice care involvement. In total, 8719 patients were enrolled, and 2097 (24.05%) admitted to hospice ward; 2107 (24.17%) received hospice shared care, and 4515 (51.78%) had no hospice care. Those admitted to hospice ward had significantly higher rates of having completed do-not-resuscitate order (100%, p < 0.001) and signed the do-not-resuscitate order by themselves (48.83%, p < 0.001), and they had lower aggressiveness of cancer care (2.2, p < 0.001) within the 28 days before death. Hospice ward admission, hospice shared care, and age > 79 years were negatively associated with aggressiveness of cancer care. In conclusion, our study showed that patients with end-of-life hospice care related to higher patient autonomy in decision-making and less excessively aggressive cancer care; the influence of care was more overt in patients approaching death. Further clinical efforts should be made to clarify the patient and the families' satisfaction and perceptions of quality after hospice care involvement.

Negotiating decisions on aggressive cancer care at end-of-life between patients, family members, and physicians - A qualitative interview study.

BackgroundPatients with advanced cancer do receive increasingly aggressive end-of-life care, despite it does often not prolong survival time but entails decreased quality of life for patients. This qualitative study explores the unfolding of aggressive end-of-life care in clinical practice focusing on the decision-making process and the quality of end-of-life care from family members’ perspective.Materials and methodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 family members (six of cancer patients with and ten without aggressive end-of-life care) at the National Center for Tumor Diseases Heidelberg, Germany. We conducted a content analysis applying a theoretical framework to differentiate between ‘decision-making’ (process of deciding for one choice among many options) and ‘decision-taking’ (acting upon this choice).ResultsWhile patients of the aggressive care group tended to make and take decisions with their family members and physicians, patients of the other group took the decision against more aggressive treatment alone. Main reason for the decision in favor of aggressive care was the wish to spend more time with loved ones. Patients took decisions against aggressive care given the rapid decline in physical health and to spare relatives difficult decisions and arising feelings of guilt and self-reproach.ConclusionTreatment decisions at end-of-life are always individual. Nevertheless, treatment courses with aggressive end-of-life care and those without differ markedly. To account for a longitudinal perspective on the interplay between patients, family members, and physicians, cohort studies are needed. Meanwhile, clinicians should validate patients and family members considering refraining from aggressive end-of-life care and explore their motives.Clinical trial registration https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00022837, identifier DRKS00022837.

The Financial Impact of Palliative Care and Aggressive Cancer Care on End-of-Life Health Care Costs.

Medicare cancer expenditures in the last month of life have increased. Aggressive cancer care at the end-of-life (ACEOL) is considered poor quality care. We used Geisinger Health Plan (GHP) last month's costs for cancer patients who died in 2018 and 2019 to determine the costs of and influence of Palliative Care (PC) on ACEOL. Patients with GHP ages 18-99 who died in 2018 and 2019 were included. Demographic, clinical characteristics, and Charlson Comorbid Index were compared across care groups defined as no ACEOL indicator, 1 or more than 1 indicator. Differences between groups were compared with Kruskal-Wallis tests and one-way ANOVA for 3 groups. Median two-sample tests and independent t-tests compared groups of 2. A P-value </= .05 indicated statistical significance. Of 608 eligible patients; 261 had no indicator, 133 had 1 and 214 > 1. There were incremental cost increases with each additional ACEOL indicator (p = < .0001). Palliative Care <90days before death was associated with increased costs while consultations >90days before death lowered cost (P < .0001) due to reduced chemotherapy in the last month. Completed ADs reduced cost by $4000. ACEOL indicators multiply costs during the last month of life. Palliative care instituted >90days before death reduces chemotherapy in the last month of life and AD reduces health care costs. Cancer health care costs increase with indicators of ACEOL. Palliative care consultations >90days before death; ADs reduce cancer health care costs.

Machine Learning-Based Short-Term Mortality Prediction Models for Patients With Cancer Using Electronic Health Record Data: Systematic Review and Critical Appraisal.

BackgroundIn the United States, national guidelines suggest that aggressive cancer care should be avoided in the final months of life. However, guideline compliance currently requires clinicians to make judgments based on their experience as to when a patient is nearing the end of their life. Machine learning (ML) algorithms may facilitate improved end-of-life care provision for patients with cancer by identifying patients at risk of short-term mortality.ObjectiveThis study aims to summarize the evidence for applying ML in ≤1-year cancer mortality prediction to assist with the transition to end-of-life care for patients with cancer.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and IEEE to identify relevant articles. We included studies describing ML algorithms predicting ≤1-year mortality in patients of oncology. We used the prediction model risk of bias assessment tool to assess the quality of the included studies.ResultsWe included 15 articles involving 110,058 patients in the final synthesis. Of the 15 studies, 12 (80%) had a high or unclear risk of bias. The model performance was good: the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve ranged from 0.72 to 0.92. We identified common issues leading to biased models, including using a single performance metric, incomplete reporting of or inappropriate modeling practice, and small sample size.ConclusionsWe found encouraging signs of ML performance in predicting short-term cancer mortality. Nevertheless, no included ML algorithms are suitable for clinical practice at the current stage because of the high risk of bias and uncertainty regarding real-world performance. Further research is needed to develop ML models using the modern standards of algorithm development and reporting.

Prevalence, pattern, and probability for goals of care discussions among women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.

High quality advanced cancer care includes goals of care (GOC) discussions and should be tailored according to clinical diagnosis, patient characteristics, and in concordance with patient's goals. Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) and treatment has heterogeneity according to subtype which makes the timing of initiating and continuing GOC discussions challenging. With an ever-increasing array of therapy, women with advanced stage disease are unique survivors in that they receive relatively aggressive cancer care to not only palliative symptoms but extend survival time. It is the purpose of this paper to explore the prevalence, pattern, and likelihood of having a GOC discussion according to key tumor, demographic, social, and clinical factors. A single-institution retrospective chart review of women deceased from MBC between November 2016 and November 2019 with double verification chart review was completed. Data were analyzed with descriptive, correlative, and comparative statistics. Total sample was N=167 women, with 14.4% (n=24) Black and 85.6% (n=143) White. Mean age was 55.3 years (SD 11.73). Overall, MBC survival was 3.12 years (SD 3.31), White women 41.2 (3.4 years) months, and Black women 19 (1.6 years) months. A total of 87.4% (n=146) participated in one or more GOC discussions. GOC discussions were more likely among those who were referred to palliative care (p<0.001) and social work (p=0.035) services. Of the GOC discussions, only 29.3% were conducted by the primary oncologist. Black women were more likely to have GOC discussion near death. Advanced stage cancers are treated, at times relatively aggressively, to extend survival time instead of merely offering palliation. This new paradigm of survivorship requires thoughtful integration of GOC conversations. Describing the current status of GOC discussions among a cohort of women deceased from MBC highlights the patients most vulnerable to having a GOC discussion avoided or delayed. These identified vulnerabilities will indicate where targeted interventions can be implemented in the future.

Evaluation of Ovarian Cancer Care at the End of Life in a Single Tertiary Hospital

Aim: Fundamentally, aggressive care is considered to be avoided for the patients at the end of life. However, this is not always adhered in real-world practice. We attempted to determine whether, and if so how, the aggressive care is made for patients with ovarian cancer during the last month prior death. Methods: Enrolled were a total of 104 patients with ovarian cancer (including fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer), who were treated in Kuopio University Hospital in Finland during 2009-2014. The aggressive care was defined according to the standards outlined by the National Quality Forum; shortly, chemotherapy, emergency-room/intensive-care visit/admission, hospital admission, and death in hospital. Results: Two thirds of patients (67%) had received at least one form of aggressive care during the last month of their lives. Especially, admission in hospital in the last 30 days of life was the most common form of aggressive cancer care. Younger patients ( = 0.004). Those women that underwent end-of-life discussions earlier than one month prior to death had significantly less aggressive care than those women that had discussions during the last month (48% vs. 90%, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Ovarian cancer patients received commonly at least one form of aggressive care at the end of their lives. More efforts should be taken to improve the quality of palliative and end-of-life care.

Duration of palliative care involvement and cancer care aggressiveness near the end of life

ObjectivesPrevious studies have found an association between aggressive cancer care and lower quality end of life. Despite international recommendations, late or very late referral to palliative care seems frequent. This...

Effect of the Serious Illness Care Program on Health Care Utilization at the End of Life for Patients with Cancer.

Objectives: To determine the effect of the Serious Illness Care Program on health care utilization at the end of life in oncology. Design: Analysis of the secondary outcome of health care utilization as part of a cluster-randomized clinical trial that ran from 2012 to 2016. Clinicians in the intervention group received training, coaching, and system supports to have discussions with patients using a Serious Illness Conversation Guide (SICG); clinicians in the control arm followed usual care. Setting/Subject: Patients with advanced cancer who died within two years of enrollment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Measurement: Health care utilization was abstracted from the electronic medical record using the National Quality Forum (NQF)-endorsed indicators of aggressive cancer care at the end of life and scored from 0 to 6 (one point for each aggressive indicator); t tests and chi-square tests were used to determine differences between intervention and control patients. Results: The charts of 159 patients who died were reviewed. Neither the main outcome of mean number of aggressive indicators (0.9 vs. 0.9, p = 0.84) nor the proportion of patients with any aggressive care (49% intervention [95% CI: 40-57] vs. 54% control [95% CI: 42-67]) differed between patients in the intervention and control groups. Conclusion: In this analysis of a secondary outcome from a randomized clinical trial of the Serious Illness Care Program, intervention and control patients had similar end-of-life health care utilization as measured by the mean number of NQF-endorsed indicators. Future research efforts should focus on studying the strategies by which communication about patients' prognosis, values, and goals leads to personalized care plans.

Association between palliative care and end-of-Life care for patients with hematological malignancies: A population-based study.

To date, few studies have examined the end-of-life (EOL) care for patients with hematological malignancies (HMs). We evaluated the effects of palliative care on the quality of EOL care and health care costs for adult patients with HMs in the final month of life.We conducted a population-based study and analyzed data from Taiwan's Longitudinal Health Insurance Database, which contains claims information for patient medical records, health care costs, and insurance system exit dates (our proxy for death) between 2000 and 2011.A total of 724 adult patients who died of HMs were investigated. Of these patients, 43 (5.9%) had received only inpatient palliative care (i-Pal group), and 19 (2.6%) received home palliative care (h-Pal group). The mean health care costs during the final month of life were not significantly different between the non-Pal and Pal groups (p=0.315) and between the non-Pal, i-Pal, and h-Pal groups (p=0.293) either. By the multivariate regression model, the i-Pal group had lower risks of chemotherapy, ICU admission, and receipt of CPR, but higher risks of at least two hospitalizations and dying in hospital after adjustments. The h-Pal group had the similar trends as the i-Pal group but lower risk of dying in hospital after adjustments.Patients with HMs who had received palliative care could benefit from less aggressive EOL cancer care in the final month of life. However, 8.6% patients with HMs received palliative care. The related factors of more hospitalizations and dying in hospital warrant further investigation.

Changes of End of Life Practices for Cancer Patients and Their Association with Hospice Palliative Care Referral over 2009-2014: A Single Institution Study

PurposeIn Korea, hospice palliative care (HPC) provision for cancer patients has increased recently. However, whether end of life (EoL) care practices have improved along with the development of HPC is unclear. We intended to investigate the changes in EoL care practices and their association with HPC referral.Materials and MethodsRetrospective medical record review of adult cancer patients who died at National Cancer Center Korea from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2014 was performed. Changes of EoL practices including chemotherapy within 2 weeks from death, death in intensive care unit (ICU), documentation of “do not resuscitate (DNR)” within 7 days from death and referral to HPC from 2009 to 2014 were analyzed as well as the association between referral to HPC and other practices.ResultsA total of 2,377 cases were included in the analysis. Between 2009 and 2014, referral to HPC increased and DNR documentation within 7 days from death decreased significantly. Cases for chemotherapy within 2 weeks from death and death in ICU didn’t change over the study period. Patients referred to HPC were less likely to receive chemotherapy within 2 weeks from death, die in ICU and document DNR within 7 days from death.ConclusionDuring the study period, EoL practices among cancer patients partly changed toward less aggressive in our institution. HPC referral was associated with less aggressive cancer care at the EoL. Policies to promote EoL discussion are necessary to improve the EoL practices of cancer patients.

PC-FACS

PC-FACS

Anticancer Therapy at the End of Life: Lessons From a Community Cancer Institute.

Studies have shown aggressive cancer care at the end of life is associated with decreased quality of life, decreased median survival, and increased cost of care. This study describes the patients most likely to receive systemic anticancer therapy at the end of life in a community cancer institute. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 201 patients who received systemic anticancer therapy in our institution and died between July 2016 and April 2017. Data collected included primary malignancy, hospice enrollment, healthcare utilization, Oncology Care Model (OCM) enrollment, and clinical assessments at last office visit prior to a treatment decision before death. We defined our outcome variable as the receipt of anticancer treatment in the last 14 days of a patient's life. We evaluated 20 clinical exposure variables with respect to the outcome classes. Risk ratios along with their associated confidence intervals and P values were calculated. Significance was determined using the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure to account for multiple testing. Of the 201 patients who died of cancer, 36 (17%) received anticancer therapy within the last 14 days of life. Several risk factors were significantly positively associated with receiving anticancer therapy at the end of life including hospitalization within 30 days of end of life, number of hospitalizations per patient (≥2), death in hospital, enrollment in OCM, and a diagnosis of hematologic malignancy. Our findings demonstrate those enrolled in the OCM and those with hematologic malignancies have a higher risk of receiving anticancer therapy in the last 14 days of life. These observations highlight the need for better identifying the needs of high-risk patients and providing good quality care throughout the disease trajectory to better align end-of-life care with patients' wishes.

Timing of palliative care referral and aggressive cancer care toward the end-of-life in pancreatic cancer: a retrospective, single-center observational study

BackgroundPancreatic cancer is noted for its late presentation at diagnosis, limited prognosis and physical and psychosocial symptom burden. This study examined associations between timing of palliative care referral (PCR) and aggressive cancer care received by pancreatic cancer patients in the last 30 days of life through a single health service.MethodA retrospective cohort analysis of end-of-life (EOL) care outcomes of patients with pancreatic cancer who died between 2012 and 2016. Key indicators of aggressive cancer care in the last 30 days of life used were: ≥1 emergency department (ED) presentations, acute inpatient/intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and chemotherapy use. We examined time from PCR to death and place of death. Early and late PCR were defined as > 90 and ≤ 90 days before death respectively.ResultsOut of the 278 eligible deaths, 187 (67.3%) were categorized as receiving a late PCR and 91 (32.7%) an early PCR. The median time between referral and death was 48 days. Compared to those receiving early PCR, those with late PCR had: 18.1% (95% CI 6.8–29.4%) more ED presentations; 12.5% (95% CI 1.7–24.8%) more acute hospital admissions; with no differences in ICU admissions. Pain and complications of cancer accounted for the majority of overall ED presentations. Of the 166 patients who received chemotherapy within 30 days of death, 23 (24.5%) had a late PCR and 12 (16.7%) an early PCR, with no association of PCR status either unadjusted or adjusted for age or gender. The majority of patients (55.8%) died at the inpatient palliative care unit.ConclusionOur findings reaffirm the benefits of early PCR for pancreatic cancer patients to avoid inappropriate care toward the EOL. We suggest that in modern cancer care, there can sometimes be a need to reconsider the use of the term ‘aggressive cancer care’ at the EOL when the care is appropriately based on an individual patient’s presenting physical and psychosocial needs. Pancreatic cancer patients warrant early PCR but the debate must thus continue as to how we best achieve and benchmark outcomes that are compatible with patient and family needs and healthcare priorities.

Patterns of Anti-Cancer Therapy Use in the Last 14 Days of Life in a Community Cancer Institute (S852)

1.Define the costs of providing aggressive end of life care.2.Describe population most likely to receive anti-cancer therapy at end of life in a community cancer center.3.Discuss implications and potential application of these findings. Studies have shown that aggressive cancer care at end of life is associated with decreased quality of life, decreased median survival, and increased cost of care. This study describes the patients most likely to receive aggressive anti-cancer therapy at the end of life in a community cancer institute. We performed a retrospective review of 213 patients who received anti-cancer therapy in our institution and died between July 2016 and April 2017. Data collected included primary malignancy, death date, date of last anti-cancer treatment, hospice enrollment, healthcare utilization, Oncology Care Model (OCM) enrollment, and clinical assessments at last office visit prior to a treatment decision before death. Data were analyzed using univariate logistic regression to determine feature importance. Of the 201 patients who died of cancer, 36(17%) received anti-cancer therapy within the last 14 days of life. Several factors were significantly positively correlated with receiving anti-cancer therapy at end of life, including enrollment in OCM (p < 0.001), frequency of hospital utilization (p < 0.001), death in hospital (p<0.001), referral to hospice (p<0.001), and hematologic malignancy (p = 0.014). In our community cancer institute, enrollment in OCM, frequency of hospitalizations, death in a hospital, referral to hospice, and hematologic malignancy diagnosis were predictive of receiving aggressive anticancer therapy at the end of life, suggesting that these factors should have greater importance in our clinic.

Patterns of anti-cancer therapy use in the last 14 days of life in a community cancer institute.

66 Background: Studies have shown that aggressive cancer care at end of life is associated with decreased quality of life, decreased median survival, and increased cost of care. This study describes the patients most likely to receive aggressive anti-cancer therapy at the end of life in a community cancer institute. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 213 patients who received anti-cancer therapy in our institution and died between July 2016-April 2017. Data collected included primary malignancy, death date, date of last anti-cancer treatment, hospice enrollment, healthcare utilization, Oncology Care Model (OCM) enrollment, and clinical assessments at last office visit prior to a treatment decision before death. Data were analyzed using univariate logistic regression to determine feature importance. Results: Of the 201 patients who died of cancer, 36 (17%) received anti-cancer therapy within the last 14 days of life. Several factors were significantly positively correlated with receiving anti-cancer therapy at end of life, including enrollment in OCM (p &lt; 0.001), frequency of hospital utilization (p &lt; 0.001), death in hospital (p&lt;0.001), referral to hospice (p&lt;0.001), and hematologic malignancy (p = 0.014). Conclusions: In our community cancer institute, enrollment in OCM, frequency of hospitalizations, death in a hospital, referral to hospice, and hematologic malignancy diagnosis were predictive of receiving aggressive anticancer therapy at the end of life, suggesting that these factors should have greater importance in our clinic. Taken as a whole, these data will help inform clinicians and patients in choices regarding care near the end of life.

Equality during end-of-life cancer care: Trends in aggressiveness of cancer care at the end of life.

77 Background: Aggressive cancer care at the end of life (EOL) can impact quality of life and have major economic burden. The purpose of this study was to portray the aggressiveness of EOL cancer care, and its relation to race, gender and social factors in Eastern North Carolina with high rural and minority population. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of 401 stage 4 solid tumor patients who died between 2011 and 2014. Aggressiveness of care was calculated by a composite score adopted from Earle et al. Scores range from 0 to 7 with higher scores indicating more aggressive EOL care. 1 point was given to each indicator of aggressiveness in the last 30 days of life: ED visits ≥2,hospital admissions ≥2,any ICU admission,hospitalized days ≥14,new chemotherapy, hospice care ≤ 3 days, and any chemotherapy in the last 14 days. Results: Among the 401 patients, 217 (54%) were white and 178 (44%) were black. The mean composite score of aggressiveness (CSA) for whites was 1.18 and for blacks it was 1.87. (p&lt;0.001).In the last 30 days of death, a higher proportion of blacks had ≥ 2 ED visits 28% vs 13%(p&lt;.0001), ≥ 2 hospital admission 23% vs 13%(p=0.001), any ICU admission 29% vs 16%(p=0.0002), chemotherapy in the last 14 days 30% vs 20%(p=0.001), ≥ 14 hospitalized days 35% vs 21%(p&lt;0.001), and hospital deaths 46% vs 32%(p=0.001) compared to whites. More whites enrolled in hospice compared to blacks 53% vs 45% (p&lt;0.001). Correlation analysis using Fit Y by X model between CSA (score ≤ 3 and &gt;3) and other variables showed statistically significant difference between whites vs blacks p &lt;0.001, females vs males p=0.0006, not married vs married p&lt;0.0001, and no family support vs family support p&lt;0.0001. Conclusions: Male, unmarried and black patients were associated with higher CSA. Patients who were white, married and with family support had high likelihood of enrolling in hospice. [Table: see text]

When medicine and religion do not mix: Overlooking or misunderstanding the religious and spiritual beliefs of patients can present significant obstacles to cancer care.

When medicine and religion do not mix: Overlooking or misunderstanding the religious and spiritual beliefs of patients can present significant obstacles to cancer care.