Prognosis in Advanced Cancer

* A comprehensive guide to the prognosis of palliative care conditions * Includes principles of prognosis, covering formulating the prediction and communicating it with ethical considerations * Written to aid quick navigation, so information on natural history, prognostic factors, effects of treatment, and short and long term outlooks for various cancers can be easily found * Features a quick reference summary table of short and long term prognosis, and survival curves to assist the reader Predicting survival and other outcomes is increasingly being recognized as an important skill for palliative care doctors and nurses, oncologists, and other healthcare professionals who treat patients with advanced cancer. Accurate prognosis is essential if we are to offer quality of care and 'a good death', as well as to aid decision-making. There is much prognostic information available that is scattered throughout the palliative care and oncological literature but this is the first time it has been gathered systematically in one place. Glare and Christakis, leaders in the field of prognosis, bring together a team of international contributors from across the fields of palliative care and oncology. This comprehensive but practical guide begins with the principles of prognostication, including formulating the prediction and then communicating it. Topics such as statistical issues, evidence-based medicine, and the ethics of prognostication are also covered. The second section addresses prognostication in 15 specific cancer sites once they have reached the advanced stage, following a standard template for consistency and easy access to the key information. The third section deals with prognostication in patients with a variety of common clinical conditions at the end of life, such as bowel obstruction, hypercalcaemia, and brain metastases. In addition, survival curves are provided within each chapter, palliative care conditions are examined for the first time, and a summary table of long and short term prognosis ensures this book remains practical. Edited by Paul Glare , Head of Palliative Care, Sydney Cancer Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital; Clinical Associate Professor, Central Clinical School (Medicine), Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Australia, and Nicholas A Christakis , Professor, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School; Department of Medicine, Mt. Auburn Hospital, Boston, USA CONTENTS PART 1: SCIENCE OF PROGNOSTICATION 1: Paul Glare and Nicholas Christakis: Overview: advancing the clinical science of prognostication 2: William J. Mackillop: Differences in prognostication between early stage cancer and advanced cancer 3: Elizabeth B. Lamont: Foreseeing: formulating an accurate prognosis 4: Phyllis Butow, Rebecca Hagerty, Martin Tattersall, and Martin Stockler: Foretelling: communicating the prognosis 5: Phyllis A. Gimotty: Statistical concepts and issues related to prognostic models 6: Paul Glare, Marco Maltoni and Cinzia Brunelli: Evidence based medicine 7: Jay F. Piccirillo and Anna Vlahiotis: Tools for formulating prognosis 8: Bert Broeckaert and Paul Glare: Ethics PART 2: PROGNOSTICATION IN SPECIFIC CANCERS 9: C. Martin Tammemagi: Lung cancer 10: Tony Geoghegan and Michael J. Lee: Colorectal cancer 11: Fabio Efficace and Laura Biganzoli: Breast cancer 12: Luigi Schips and Richard Zigeuner: Bladder cancer 13: Timothy Gilligan: Prognosis of prostate cancer 14: Moritz Koch, Jürgen Weitz and Markus W. Büchler: Pancreatic cancer 15: Kelvin K. Ng and Ronnie T. Poon: Hepatoma 16: Ceri Hughes and Steve Thomas: Head and neck cancer 17: Jonathan Carter: Gynaecological cancer 18: Hiroko Ohgaki: Brain cancer 19: Charles Dumontet and Catherine Thieblemont: Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) 20: Paul Glare: Leukaemia and myeloma 21: Katherine T. Morris and Murray F. Brennan: Sarcoma 22: Jonathan Dowell: Unknown primary 23: Anne Hamilton and Katherine Clark: Melanoma PART 3: PROGNOSIS IN PALLIATIVE CARE 24: Edward Chow and Albert Yee: Bone secondaries 25: Andrew Broadbent and George Hruby: Brain secondaries 26: Vicki Jackson and Lida Nabati: Leptomeningeal disease 27: Angela Byrne and Michael Lee: Liver metastases 28: David Currow and Christine Sanderson: Lung secondaries 29: Niklas Zojer and Martin Pecherstorfer: Hypercalcemia 30: Nora Janjan, Anita Mahajan, Eric L. Chang, Edward Lin, Sunil Krishnan, and Edward Chow: Spinal cord compression 31: Maria Montoya and Eduardo Bruera: Pain relief 32: Sebastiano Mercadante: Malignant bowel obstruction 33: Lara Alloway, Vaughan Keeley and Irene Higginson: Breathlessness 34: Miriam Friedlander and David Kissane: Delirium 35: Aminah Jatoi: Weight loss 36: Tugba Yavuzsen and Mellar P. Davis: Fatigue