YourSpine.com - Chiropractic - Cancer Patients Not Informed On Treatment Options

Cancer Patients Not Informed On Treatment Options

A report in the January 2004 issue of the European Journal of Cancer says that when it comes to treatment for cancer, doctors oftentimes do not give patients all the information on different options that they need to make an intelligent, informed choice.

The researchers, led by Dr. C.G. Koedoot of the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, found that doctors generally discuss palliative chemotherapy which is designed to shrink tumors when a cure is unlikely to occur. Less than half the patients were told about watchful-waiting, which involves treating symptoms as they show up rather than using chemotherapy.

Watchful-waiting and palliative chemotherapy have similar survival rates.

The study involved 95 people with incurable cancer who were interviewed before discussing their treatment options with a cancer specialist. The conversations between doctor and patient were recorded and analyzed.

In 84% of the cases, doctors discussed how long the chemotherapy would last as well as common side effects, such as hair loss and nausea. However, less than half the patients had discussions about the quality of life under chemotherapy and how it would effect their emotions, their work and their sex and social lives.

Watchful-waiting was only discussed in about half of the cases. When it was talked about, it was usually described as “doing nothing.” According to Dr. Koedoot, doing nothing “probably will be interpreted by the patient as being given up [on] by the physician.”

Change Zip Code Close