A majority of hematologic oncologists report that end-of-life (EOL) discussions happen with patients with blood cancers too late, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Oreofe O. Odejide, M.D., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and coauthors examined the timing of EOL discussions through a survey completed by 349 hematologic oncologists (57.3 percent response rate).
About 56 percent of hematologic oncologists (based on a slightly smaller number who answered a survey question about timing) reported EOL discussions happened “too late.” Oncologists in tertiary centers were more likely to report late EOL discussions with patients than those in community centers.
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