Majority of Advanced Cancer Patients are Not Well Informed Enough with their Disease

Only few of the cancer patients in the terminal stages of their illness fully understand their prognosis. The study shows lot of patients are not informed enough even though they merely have a couple months to pass away.

Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medicine led a study on 178 terminally-ill cancer patients.

Dr. Holly Prigerson, a professor of geriatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine and study’s lead researcher in New York City, noted that they were surprised to find out only 5% of the patients that they included in the study were having enough knowledge about their cancer to make informed decision about their future.

“Many did not know that they were at the end-stage of their illness or that their cancer was incurable. They were basically making treatment decisions in the dark,” explained Prigerson. "It's a difficult topic," Prigerson admitted. "Have patients understand, if that [sic] they are being offered treatment, it's not a cure. And they really have months not years to live."

However, twenty-three percent of the patients had both a recent a previous discussion with their doctors regarding their life-expectancy.

"The results of this study show that when advanced cancer patients reported having recently discussed their life-expectancy with their oncologist, their illness understanding improved significantly," she said. "That information may also help patients prioritize how they wish to spend the last few months of their lives, some by fulfilling bucket lists. Treatment choices patients make might follow from these priorities."

The study, published May 23 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology