Palliative Care News

The immediate initiation of palliative care among hospitalized patients with incurable cancers and chronic comorbid conditions resulted in significant hospital cost savings, according to research published in Health Affairs.

The FDA approved use of single-dose fosaprepitant dimeglumine in combination with other antiemetic medicines for the prevention of delayed nausea and vomiting in patients who receive moderately emetogenic chemotherapy, the agent’s manufacturer announced today.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center announced the following awards and appointments:

Hospital expenditures near the end of life among older patients with cancer appeared higher in the U.S., Canada and Norway than other Western countries, according to the results of a retrospective cohort study.

Factors including early hospice enrollment, avoidance of ICU admission within 30 days of death and death occurring outside the hospital appeared associated with favorable perceptions of end-of-life care among family members of older patients who died of cancer, according to the results of an interview-based study published in JAMA.

Palliative care initiated in the emergency department appeared to improve quality of life without shortening survival among patients with advanced cancer, according to results from a single blind, randomized clinical trial.

Four oncology leaders have been elected to ASCO’s board of directors.

An educational session presented over two mornings at the ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition provided a comprehensive view of implementing palliative care in the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies.

More than half of hematologic oncologists surveyed reported they conduct end-of-life conversations with their patients at too late a stage, according to a research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Many patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer undergoing palliative thoracic radiotherapy received a higher number of radiation fractions than recommended, according to the results of a population study.