Cancer therapy at end of life may not boost survival

Cancer therapy at end of life may not boost survival 
Cure; by Brielle Benyon; 6/17/24 
Patients with advanced solid cancers who received systemic therapy toward the end of life typically did not live any longer than patients who did not receive treatment, according to research published in JAMA Oncology. Because cancer treatments can damper quality of life, it is crucial that patients and their loved ones discuss goals of care and prognosis with their oncology team, two experts emphasized. “I think once we progress to advanced and metastatic cancer when cure is no longer feasible, it’s important to consider goals-of-care conversations,” said study author Maureen Canavan, associate research scientist at Yale School of Medicine. The researchers analyzed data from 78,446 patients treated across 144 different cancer treatment centers between the years 2015 and 2019. The cancers represented in the study were breast, colorectal, non-small cell lung, pancreatic, kidney and bladder.