What Keeps Oncologists From Addressing Palliative Care Early on With Incurable Cancer Patients? An Active Stance Seems Key

Abstract

These findings provide explanations of why EOL communication is often started rather late with cancer patients. For ethical reasons, a proactive stance should be promoted, and oncologists should take on the task of preparing patients for their last phase of life. To do this, more concrete guidance on when to initiate EOL communication is necessary to improve the quality of decision making for advanced cancer patients.