Palliative Care Needed Alongside Aggressive Cancer Treatment
After leading a study that patients with acute myeloid leukemia who receive induction chemotherapy are quite distressed, Tom LeBlanc, hematologic malignancy specialist at Duke Cancer Institute, decided more palliative care should be offered alongside treatment for the disease.
After leading a study that patients with acute myeloid leukemia who receive induction chemotherapy are quite distressed, Tom LeBlanc, MD, hematologic malignancy specialist at Duke Cancer Institute, decided more palliative care should be offered alongside treatment for the disease. LeBlanc used a distress monitoring tool where patients ranked aspects regarding symptom burden and quality of life on a scale of one to ten. Most of the averages were higher than four, at which point a specialist, such as one for palliative care, should be sought out. Thanks to the monitoring tool and study, which raised awareness of AML patient distress, LeBlanc can now get better recommendations of “who should do what."
Oncology Nurses Provide Patients an Avenue to Supportive Care
November 12th 2019Palliative care is often associated with a patient entering end of life treatment and giving up on their treatment, but that isn't the reality of what id can do for patients. And oncology nurses can help guide patients to the right supportive care for them.
Hyman B. Muss Discusses the Importance of Nurses in Treating Pregnant Women With Breast Cancer
March 23rd 2016Hyman B. Muss, MD, professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, discusses the vital roles that nurses play when it comes to treating pregnant women with breast cancer.
Kimberly J. Van Zee on Nomograms Helping in DCIS Treatment Decision-Making
March 18th 2016Kimberly J. Van Zee, MS, MD, FACS, attending surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the institution's newly-developed nomogram that can help women make treatment decisions about ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
