Liver function tests may be useful tools for advanced cancer patient care: a preliminary single-center result.

Accurate prognostication in advanced cancer may facilitate better palliative care. An objective marker may be more applicable and appropriate than a subjective evaluation by physicians. The aim of this study was to evaluate liver function tests as useful prognostic factors for survival in patients with advanced cancer.

Determinants of complicated grief in caregivers who cared for terminal cancer patients.

Purpose: There is little research on determinants and the grief that caregivers experience after their relatives die of cancer. This study evaluated factors which influence complicated grief among caregivers who cared for patients who died of cancer in Taiwan.

Methods: This prospective study recruited 668 caregivers who cared for terminally ill cancer patients in the hospice ward or who received shared-care consultation.