Background: Physicians have significant influence on end-of-life decisions. Therefore, it is important to understand the connection between physicians' personal end-of-life care preferences and clinical practice, and whether there is congruence between what they prefer for themselves and for patients.
Aim: Study to what extent physicians believe their personal end-of-life preferences impact their clinical practice and to what extent physicians' personal treatment option preferences differ from what they prefer for their patients.
BMJ Support Palliat Care
December 2024
Objectives: As more countries legalise assisted dying, it is of increasing significance for policy-makers and the medical profession. Doctors are needed for patients to access this choice; however, there is currently limited participation. Few studies identify what factors, if any, facilitate participation in assisted dying and how the inter-relationship of multiple factors may also influence participation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Part 1 of the RUBY trial (NCT03981796) demonstrated improved survival in patients with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer (EC) treated with dostarlimab plus carboplatin-paclitaxel versus placebo plus carboplatin-paclitaxel. Here, we examine additional efficacy and safety data from patients with mismatch repair deficient/microsatellite instability-high (dMMR/MSI-H) EC in the RUBY trial.
Methods: Patients were randomized 1:1 to dostarlimab 500 mg or placebo plus carboplatin-paclitaxel every 3 weeks for 6 cycles followed by dostarlimab or placebo every 6 weeks for up to 3 years.
Mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) endometrial cancer (EC) is an inflamed phenotype with poor outcomes when meeting high-risk criteria and limited treatment options in the adjuvant setting. We report protocol-prespecified subgroup analysis of patients with dMMR tumors from the phase III ENGOT-en11/GOG-3053/KEYNOTE-B21 study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04634877) in newly diagnosed, high-risk EC after surgery with curative intent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective Voluntary assisted dying (VAD) began in Queensland in January 2023 but little is known about its practical operation. This research examined models of care for providing VAD in Queensland. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 participants involved with VAD delivery across Queensland's 16 Health and Hospital Services (HHSs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In Part 1 of the phase III RUBY trial (NCT03981796) in patients with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer (EC), dostarlimab plus carboplatin-paclitaxel (CP) significantly improved progression-free survival and overall survival compared with CP alone. Limited safety data have been reported for the combination of immunotherapies plus chemotherapy in this setting.
Objectives: The objective of this analysis was to identify the occurrence of treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) and immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and to describe irAE management in Part 1 of the RUBY trial.
Purpose: Patients with advanced endometrial cancer (EC) who progress on or after platinum-based therapy and immunotherapy have poor prognosis. We report efficacy and safety of sacituzumab govitecan (SG), a trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (Trop-2)-directed antibody-drug conjugate, in patients with advanced EC.
Methods: TROPiCS-03 (ClinicalTrials.
Introduction: Assisted dying (AD) has been legalised in a small but growing number of jurisdictions globally, including Canada and Australia. Early research in both countries demonstrates that, in response to access barriers, patients and caregivers take action to influence their individual experience of AD, as well as AD systems more widely. This study analyses how patients and caregivers suggest other decision-makers in AD systems should address identified issues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Part 1 of the RUBY trial (NCT03981796) evaluated dostarlimab plus carboplatin-paclitaxel compared with placebo plus carboplatin-paclitaxel in patients with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer (EC). At the first interim analysis, the trial met one of its dual primary endpoints with statistically significant progression-free survival benefits in the mismatch repair-deficient/microsatellite instability-high (dMMR/MSI-H) and overall populations. Overall survival (OS) results are reported from the second interim analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To investigate if a prospective feedback loop that flags older patients at risk of death can reduce non-beneficial treatment at end of life.
Design: Prospective stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial with usual care and intervention phases.
Setting: Three large tertiary public hospitals in south-east Queensland, Australia.
Purpose: Endometrial cancer is highly prevalent and lacking noninvasive diagnostic techniques. Diagnosis depends on histological investigation of biopsy samples. Serum biomarkers for endometrial cancer have lacked sensitivity and specificity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMedical assistance in dying (MAiD) was legalised federally in Canada after the Supreme Court decision in Carter v Canada (Attorney General) [2015] 1 SCR 331. The federal legislative framework for MAiD was established via Bill C-14 in 2016. Caregivers and patients were central to Carter and subsequent litigation and advocacy, which resulted in amendments to the law via Bill C-7 in 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is a global shortage of health providers in abortion care. Public discourse presents abortion providers as dangerous and greedy and links 'conscience' with refusal to participate. This may discourage provision.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Non-beneficial treatment affects a considerable proportion of older people in hospital, and some will choose to decline invasive treatments when they are approaching the end of their life. The Intervention for Appropriate Care and Treatment (InterACT) intervention was a 12-month stepped wedge randomised controlled trial with an embedded process evaluation in three hospitals in Brisbane, Australia. The aim was to increase appropriate care and treatment decisions for older people at the end-of-life, through implementing a nudge intervention in the form of a prospective feedback loop.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To investigate ED and intensive care unit healthcare professionals' perspectives and knowledge of the law that underpins end-of-life decision-making in Queensland, Australia.
Methods: An online survey with questions about perspectives, perceived, and actual, knowledge of the law was distributed by the professional organisations of medical practitioners, nurses and social workers who work in Queensland EDs and intensive care units.
Results: The survey responses of 126 healthcare professionals were included in the final analysis.
Background: This paper aimed to describe the legal worries of Australian general practitioners (GPs) and nurses regarding end-of-life care provided in the aged care setting.
Methods: An analysis of responses to the final, open-ended question of a cross-sectional online survey of GPs and nurses practising in aged care settings in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria was undertaken.
Results: Of the 162 GPs and 61 nurses who gave valid responses to the survey, 92% (151 GPs and 55 nurses) responded to the open-ended question.
In 2021, two years after voluntary assisted dying (VAD) laws commenced in Victoria, Western Australia (WA) was the second Australian jurisdiction to permit VAD. While the two regimes are broadly similar, key differences exist. This article reports on findings from a qualitative study of WA participants with VAD experience across four stakeholder groups (patients and families; health practitioners; regulators and VAD system personnel; and health and professional organisation representatives), focusing particularly on participants' reflections on aspects of the WA VAD regime which differs from that in Victoria and the practical implications of those differences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective There is limited evidence about how legal frameworks that underpin end-of-life decisions are applied in practice. This study aimed to identify how end-of-life decisions are made and documented in emergency departments and intensive care units. The secondary aim was to explore the extent to which the legal processes featured in these decisions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBelgium has over 20 years of experience regulating assisted dying (AD). While much research considers this end-of-life practice, no studies have comprehensively analysed the various sources of regulation that govern it, including law, professional standards, and ethics. A scoping review identified all sources of regulation that guide AD practice, and their regulatory functions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Health professionals and medical students have knowledge gaps about the law that governs end-of-life decision-making. There is a lack of dedicated training on end-of-life law and corresponding research on the impact of this type of training.
Objective: To examine the impact of online training modules on key concepts of end-of-life law on Australian health professionals' legal knowledge and their self-reported confidence in applying the law in practice.
Introduction: Most Australian jurisdictions have passed voluntary assisted dying (VAD) laws, with some regimes already in operation. Inequitable access to assisted dying in regional communities has been described internationally. Although regional access to VAD has been identified as a concern in Australia, to date it has been understudied empirically.
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