Communication in end-stage cancer: review of the literature and future research.

Concerns have been raised about the quality of life and health care received by cancer patients at the end of life (EOL). Many patients die with pain and other distressing symptoms inadequately controlled, receiving burdensome, aggressive care that worsens quality of life and limits patient exposure to palliative care, such as hospice. Patient-physician communication is likely a very important determinate of EOL care.

Mental health, treatment preferences, advance care planning, location, and quality of death in advanced cancer patients with dependent children.

Background: Clinicians observe that advanced cancer patients with dependent children agonize over the impact their death will have on their children. The objective of this study was to determine empirically whether advanced cancer patients with and without dependent children differ in treatment preferences, mental health, and end-of-life (EOL) outcomes.

Methods: Coping with Cancer is a National Cancer Institute/National Institute of Mental Health-funded, multi-institutional, prospective cohort study of 668 patients with advanced cancer.

Do rates of mental disorders and existential distress among advanced stage cancer patients increase as death approaches?

Objective: To determine whether the prevalence of mental disorders and related factors increase as advanced cancer patients get closer to death.

Method: Baseline, cross-sectional data from 289 patients who were assessed prior to their death as part of a multi-site, longitudinal, prospective cohort study of advanced cancer patients. Major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV Axis I Disorders.