Palliative radiotherapy referrals in the last days of cancer patients' life: Could we do better?

e24008

Background: The role of active cancer therapy towards the end of life (EOL) is debatable and may even be considered harmful. While palliative radiotherapy may be highly effective in reducing cancer-related symptoms of advanced disease, the beneficial effects are usually at least 2-4 weeks from completion of treatment. Thus, radiotherapy administered at the end of life is often ineffective, and may actually impair quality of life and be associated with an unnecessary burden to the health care system. The universal Israeli health care system enables the administration of radiotherapy without financial or regulatory barriers, even at EOL. We aimed to assess the use radiotherapy towards EOL in a tertiary care Israeli cancer center. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data of patients receiving palliative radiation and died within 30 days of their simulation from March 2019 until September 2020. Results: Out of approximately 2,000 patients treated with radiotherapy during the study period, 148 (8%) patients were referred for palliative radiation and died within 30 days of their simulation. The majority (88, 59.5%) were male, the median age was 67.3 years and the most common malignancies patients suffered from were lung cancer (49, 33.1%), gastrointestinal tumors (28, 18.9%), genito-urinary malignancies (23, 15.5%) or breast cancer (15, 10.1%). The median ECOG PS was 3. Nineteen patients (12.8%) did not initiate radiation treatment plan, 24 patients (16.2%) completed less than half of the planned treatment and 89 patients (60.1%) completed the entire duration of treatment. Of the patients who completed the planned therapy, 34 patients (38.2%) received a single fraction protocol. The majority of patients (89, 60.1%) were referred to the radiation unit by their treating medical oncologists or hemato-oncologist. None of the patients were referred by palliative care team members at our center. Most (105, 70.9%) received previous systemic therapies; but less than half (48, 45.7%) were under active treatments within a month prior to the radiation simulation. Conclusions: Relatively large number of patients with advanced malignancies are referred for futile palliative radiotherapy during the last 30 days of their life, thus impairing their quality of life and creating an unnecessary burden on public health services. These patients are often being referred by their treating oncologists who are familiar with their oncological history. These findings call for the implementation of collaborative multi-disciplinary teams, primarily directed at optimizing care at the end of life, setting achievable treatment goals, and improving quality of life.

Extrapulmonary Small Cell Cancer: A New Insight into a Rare Disease

INTRODUCTION

Extrapulmonary small-cell cancer (EPSCC) is a relatively rare malignancy. The management of EPSCC is usually extrapolated from small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). In spite of the morphological similarity of the 2 malignancies, there are many differences in clinical features, prognosis, and recommendations of treatment of these disorders. The data on the correlation of clinical-pathological characteristics of EPSCC and treatment results is scarce.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This retrospective analysis of 41 consecutively treated patients diagnosed with EPSCC in 2015-2018 was performed in a tertiary medical center. The correlation between the clinical and pathological characteristics and the treatment outcome (response rate, disease-free interval, and overall medial survival) was done using the standard statistics, Kaplan-Meier method, and multivariate analyses. The stratification was done on the stage of the disease, Ki-67 proliferative index, the location of the tumor, and smoking.

RESULTS

Forty-one patients were included with a median age of 66.3 years. The most common primary site was the gastrointestinal tract (28, 68.3%) including the pancreas. The most common distant metastasis site was the liver (23, 56.1%). Only 2 patients (4.9%) had brain metastases. Unlike in SCLC, most patients did not have any history of smoking (23, 56.1%). Nineteen patients with metastatic disease received systemic treatment, mostly cisplatin-based chemotherapy, with a response rate of 57.9%. The results of treatment were significantly better in patients with disseminated EPSCC with Ki-67 <55%, while its role in limited disease was nonsignificant.

DISCUSSION

The results of our study show the unique entity of EPSCC. The rarity of brain metastases proves that prophylactic brain irradiation should not be recommended in practice. The provocative idea of prophylactic liver irradiation in limited-stage EPSCC of gastrointestinal origin can be evaluated in future studies. The predictive role of Ki-67 is important in metastatic EPSCC. There is probably no role of smoking in developing EPSCC.