Internal Medicine Issues In Palliative Cancer Care

Patients with advanced cancer may develop a number of clinical complications related to tumor progression or a variety of aggressive treatments. The majority of these patients are elderly, often with multiple co-morbidities that require appropriate assessment and management. In the palliative stage of their disease, patients undergo a progressive transition from active acute care to community-based hospice care. This transition requires modification in the diagnostic tests, monitoring procedures and pharmacological treatments to adjust them to the palliative and short-term nature of the care. Internal Medicine Issues in Palliative Cancer Care looks at internal medicine through a prognosis-based framework and provides a practical approach to maximizing comfort and quality of life while minimizing aggressive investigations and therapies for patients with life-limiting disease. Forty-six common internal medicine conditions are organized into nine clinical categories: pulmonary, cardiovascular, nephrologic and metabolic, gastrointestinal, hematologic, infectious, endocrine, rheumatologic, and neuro-psychiatric. This evidence-based resource is ideal for educating clinicians delivering palliative care to cancer patients in acute care facilities about complex internal medicine problems, decision-making regarding diagnostics and therapeutics which require a good understanding of state-of-the-art internal medicine and palliative care principles.

Palliative care provides comprehensive support for severely affected patients with any life-limiting or life-threatening diagnosis. To do this effectively, it requires a disease-specific approach as the patients’ needs and clinical context will vary depending on the underlying diagnosis. Experts in the field of palliative care and oncology describe in detail the needs of patients with advanced cancer in comparison to those with non-cancer disease and also identify the requirements of patients with different cancer entities. Basic principles of symptom control are explained, with careful attention to therapy for pain associated with either the cancer or its treatment and to symptom-guided antineoplastic therapy. Complex therapeutic strategies for palliative cancer patients are highlighted that involve both cancer- and symptom-directed options and address a range of therapeutic aims. Issues relating to drug use in palliative cancer care are fully explored, and a separate section is devoted to care in the final phase. A range of organizational and policy issues are also discussed, and the book concludes by considering likely future developments in palliative care for cancer patients. Palliative Care in Oncology will be of particular interest to palliative care physicians who are interested in broadening the scope of their disease-specific knowledge, as well as to oncologists who wish to learn more about modern palliative care concepts relevant to their day-to-day work with cancer patients.

“This textbook, Radiation Oncology in Palliative Cancer Care, represents the full evolution of radiation therapy, and of oncology in general. ( … ) [It] is an acknowledgment that palliative radiotherapy is now a sub-specialty of radiation oncology. This formally makes palliative radiotherapy a priority within patient care, academic research, quality assurance, and medical education.” – From the Foreword by Nora Janjan, MD, MPSA, MBA, National Center for Policy Analysis, Dallas, TX, USA Palliative Medicine is the professional medical practice of prevention and relief of suffering and the support of the best possible quality of life for patients and their families, regardless of the stage of the disease or the need for other therapies. The most common cause for palliative care referral is terminal cancer, and a large proportion of those referrals include patients who will need palliative radiotherapy during the course of their disease. Still, there are barriers to coordinated care between radiation oncologists and palliative care physicians that differ from one country to another. Until now, one overarching limitation to appropriate concurrent care between the specialties across all countries has been the lack of a comprehensive yet concise reference resource that educates each of the specialties about the potential synergistic effects of their cooperation. This book fills that void. Radiation Oncology in Palliative Cancer Care: Is the first book-length treatment of this important topic available on the market Is authored by world-renowned experts in radiation oncology and palliative medicine Uses a multidisciplinary approach to content and patient treatment Features decision trees for palliative radiotherapy based upon factors such as patient performance status and prognosis Pays careful attention to current best practices and controversies in the delivery of end-of-life cancer care This book is an important resource for practicing radiation oncologists and radiation oncologists in training, as well as hospice and palliative medicine physicians and nurses, medical oncologists, and geriatricians.

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is an essential part of end of life care in the UK and most developed countries. It enables more people to live well and die as they would choose, and has significant implications for the individual person, their family and carers, and our wider society. In the context of an ageing population and increasing possibilities for medical interventions, ACP is a particularly important aspect of quality care. Expanded and fully updated throughout, this new edition gives a comprehensive overview of ACP and explores a wide range of issues and practicalities in providing end of life care. Written by experts from around the world, the book takes a comprehensive look at the subject by exploring the wide range of issues and practicalities in providing ACP; framing the purpose, process, and outcomes of these plans; and providing an important update on national and international research, policy and practice. Chapters also discuss values, goals and priorities, and include detailed case examples to aid best practice. This book is an invaluable resource for all clinicians involved in the caring for people in their final stages of life. It is of particular value to GPs, palliative care specialists, geriatricians, social care teams, researchers and policy leads interested in improving end of life care.

Choices in Palliative Care brings together leading experts to spotlight core issues in the field and identify ways PC can fill gaps in current care systems. This far-sighted volume redefines palliative care as interdisciplinary and integrative, bridging acute and long-term care to respond to clients’ evolving needs. Those teaching health service delivery courses will find this material especially useful.

Textbook of Palliative Medicine provides an alternative, truly international approach to this rapidly growing specialty. This textbook fills a niche with its evidence-based, multi-professional approach and global perspective ensured by the international team of editors and contributing authors. In the absence of an international curriculum for the study of palliative medicine, this textbook provides essential guidance for those both embarking upon a career in palliative medicine or already established in the field, and the structure and content have been constructed very much with this in mind. With an emphasis on providing a service anywhere in the world, including the important issue of palliative care in the developing nations, Textbook of Palliative Medicine offers a genuine alternative to the narrative approach of its competitors, and is an ideal complement to them. It is essential reading for all palliative care physicians in training and in practice, as well as palliative care nurses and other health professionals in the palliative care team

The third edition of this successful book continues to offer a panoramic view of palliative care. It introduces a number of new topics including Neurological Disorders, The Last Days and Palliative Sedation. The contributors illustrate, through the case studies, the desired skills, attitudes, and knowledge required in palliative medicine.

The first truly interdisciplinary book on supportive oncology and palliative care returns with a new edition that serves as a practical guide to the management of the myriad symptoms and quality-of-life issues that occur in patients with cancer—including newly diagnosed patients, patients undergoing treatment, cancer survivors, and patients whose disease is no longer curable. The interdisciplinary group of contributors includes leading experts in hospice care and palliative medicine, oncology, nursing, neurology, psychiatry, anesthesiology, and pharmacology. This completely revised edition features new chapters on caregiver stress, hepatic failure, pulmonary failure, research issues in palliative care, and beginning a palliative care program. Content has been aligned with the needs of today's palliative care fellowship programs and includes additional tables, algorithms, and flow charts.