Tag Archive for: palliative care

Curious Dr. George | Plumbing the Core and Nibbling at the Margins of Cancer

How an Expert Would Manage Her Own Advanced Colorectal Cancer

Curious Dr. George
Cancer Commons Contributing Editor George Lundberg, MD, is the face and curator of this invitation-only column.

Christina Wu, MD Associate Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University

When facing a new cancer diagnosis, some people ask their doctors, “What would you do if you were me?” Here, our Curious Dr. George asks Cancer Commons Expert Physician Advisor Christina Wu, MD, how she would handle her own diagnosis of metastatic colorectal cancer. Dr. Wu is Associate Professor of Hematology/Oncology and Associate Division Director of Medical Oncology at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.

Curious Dr. George: As an experienced academic and practicing clinical oncologist at Emory University, you have particular interest, training, and experience in colorectal cancer. What would you do if you personally were discovered to have an asymptomatic, unsuspected, non-obstructing adenocarcinoma of the ascending colon that had already metastasized to your liver?

Dr. Wu: Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the U.S., and one of the leading causes of cancer deaths. However, every patient with metastatic colon cancer to the liver is treated individually because there are various systemic and liver-directed treatment options. If I were diagnosed with colon cancer and liver metastasis, I would want a multi-pronged approach to include the following:

Next-generation sequencing: First of all, I would want to know if I could benefit from immunotherapy so that I could be spared the side effects of chemotherapy. I would test for mismatch repair protein status or microsatellite instability. I would want to know the tumor’s KRAS/NRAS/BRAF mutation status, because I would be a candidate for anti-EGFR therapy if my tumor was RAS wild-type and the primary cancer was left-sided. The presence of a BRAF mutation would direct me to targeted therapies, such as encorafenib and an anti-EGFR antibody or vemurafenib, irinotecan, and an anti-EGFR antibody. If the tumor was RAS wild-type with HER2 amplification, I would be interested in HER2-targeted therapies. In addition, if I had the rare NTRK fusion mutation, I would be a candidate for larotrectinib. There are also ongoing clinical trials testing drugs that target KRAS mutations, such as KRAS G12C.

Multi-disciplinary tumor board: I would want high-quality imaging and experts from medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, gastroenterology, radiology, and interventional radiology reviewing my case in a tumor board. It would be meaningful to know upfront whether the liver metastasis was surgically resectable, because I may opt to receive systemic chemotherapy followed by surgical resection. If I required conversion therapy, I would consider triplet chemotherapy (FOLFOXIRI) to get more of a response so that I could get to surgery. However, if I had clearly unresectable disease, I would choose doublet chemotherapy such as FOLFOX or FOLFIRI with a biologic agent to improve my quality of life. With unresectable disease, I could also consider radiation, Y90 treatment, or ablation to the liver tumors, should I have good control or surgical resection of the extrahepatic disease.

Genetic counseling: There are hereditary syndromes that lead to colon cancer development, including Lynch syndrome, familial adenomatous polyposis, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, and juvenile polyposis. All patients with a new diagnosis of colorectal cancer are recommended to have universal screening for Lynch syndrome, and identifying a hereditary syndrome may help family members with early detection.

Palliative care: This is such an important team that treats the symptoms patients have from their cancer as well their cancer treatment. They also provide great support to patients and their caregivers in navigating their way through their cancer diagnosis.

Clinical trials: I personally would want to be part of clinical trials that could help move new drugs forward for colorectal cancer patients, and thus I would consider this an essential team in my cancer care.

Final thoughts: As I reflect on all the teamwork and different moving pieces that have to come together for one cancer patient, I am certainly grateful for all the multi-disciplinary clinical staff and physicians who are caring for cancer patients.

Dr. Wu can be reached at Christina.wu@emoryhealthcare.org.

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Copyright: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Curious Dr. George | Plumbing the Core and Nibbling at the Margins of Cancer

How an Expert Would Manage His Own Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer

John Strickler, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University, Cancer Commons Advisor

When confronted with a new cancer diagnosis, some people ask their doctors, “What would you do if you were me?” Here, our Curious Dr. George asks Cancer Commons Expert Physician Advisor John Strickler, MD, how he would handle his own diagnosis of metastatic pancreatic cancer. Dr. Strickler is Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology at Duke University and Co-Leader of the Duke Molecular Tumor Board.

Curious Dr. George: Cancer Commons provides information about treatment options to patients with advanced cancer, usually beyond the standard of curative care. As an experienced academic and practicing clinical oncologist at Duke University, you have particular interest, training, and experience in gastrointestinal cancer. What would you do if you personally were diagnosed with asymptomatic, unsuspected, ductal adenocarcinoma of the tail of the pancreas that had already metastasized to your liver?

Dr. Strickler: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies. In most cases the disease presents as surgically incurable (locally advanced) or metastatic. Despite the grim survival statistics and poor prognosis associated with this disease, there is reason to have hope. In the past decade, advancements in supportive care, chemotherapy, and molecular diagnostics have allowed patients to live longer and live better. While we have a long way to go, finally progress is being made.

If I were diagnosed with metastatic (stage 4) pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the first thing I would do is find an experienced multi-disciplinary team with pancreatic cancer expertise. This team would give me the best outcomes possible. Members of this team would include experts in the following fields:

Medical Oncology: Although the primary function of a medical oncologist is to provide chemotherapy, typically he or she formulates the treatment plan and coordinates care. In my hypothetical case, the medical oncologist would recommend either gemcitabine alone, gemcitabine with nab-paclitaxel, or FOLFIRINOX. All of these treatments are reasonable, but combination chemotherapy (gemcitabine + nab-paclitaxel or FOLFIRINOX) offers the greatest disease control and longest survival.

Additionally, the medical oncologist would be responsible for ordering next-generation sequencing (NGS) on my tumor tissue to determine if my tumor harbors an “actionable” genetic alteration. Although these actionable genetic alterations are rare, they may make me eligible for immunotherapy or other targeted therapies.

Genetic counseling: Approximately 5% of all patients with pancreatic cancer have a germline (hereditary) mutation in BRCA1/2 or PALB2, and these hereditary mutations predict benefit from platinum-based chemotherapy and PARP inhibitors. Other rare germline mutations can also predispose a patient to pancreatic cancer. Current national guidelines advise germline testing in all patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, regardless of family history, age, or stage at diagnosis. Genetic counseling is advised for any patient who tests positive for a pathogenic germline mutation or has a strong family history.

Palliative care: Many patients are hesitant to consider palliative care. There is a misconception that palliative care represents end-of-life care. I hope that we can change this misconception. Pancreatic cancer often presents with complicated symptoms that are difficult to manage. Even if I present completely pain free, symptoms from pancreatic cancer can change rapidly. Given the incurable nature of this disease, it is helpful to have a team of doctors who can help me and my family prepare for the future. I view palliative care as a critical “extra layer of support” to fight a very difficult illness.

Other important members of the team: As a medical oncologist, I have learned that I am only as good as the people around me. I cannot overstate the importance of having experienced and dedicated nurses, advanced practice providers (NPs and PAs), and clinic staff to provide extra support. Additionally, by finding a skilled multi-disciplinary team for my hypothetical diagnosis, I would have access to other experts, including radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists, and gastroenterologists. All of these physicians would be key to my health and symptom management.

Final thoughts: As a gastrointestinal medical oncologist, I have seen how difficult pancreatic cancer can be for patients and their loved ones. If I were facing this disease myself, I would recognize that it takes a community of dedicated clinicians to keep me living longer and living better. As a patient, I would make myself available to clinical trials and other research. It is through these research efforts that we will change the course of this terrible disease and improve outcomes.

More details about ways to support pancreatic cancer research and support patients and families fighting this disease can be found at the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

Requests for Dr. Strickler’s email address can be sent to Curious Dr. George at gdlundberg@gmail.com.

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Copyright: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Curious Dr. George | Plumbing the Core and Nibbling at the Margins of Cancer

Is Cancer the Best Way to Die?

Curious Dr. George
Cancer Commons Editor in Chief.

Richard Smith, CBE, FMedSci
Chair of the Lancet Commission on the Value of Death, Editor of The BMJ (1991–2004)

In 2014, the prestigious medical research journal The BMJ published a controversial piece called “Dying of cancer is the best death.” Here, our Curious Dr. George asks the author of that piece, Richard Smith, CBE, FMedSci, if and how his thoughts on death have since evolved. Dr. Smith was Editor of The BMJ from 1991 to 2004 and is currently Chair of the Lancet Commission on the Value of Death.

Curious Dr. George: Your 2014 BMJ blog post on dying of cancer precipitated quite a robust discussion. Since then, the fields of precision oncology and immunotherapy have developed a lot, although perhaps not yet realizing their full potential. You currently chair the Lancet Commission on the Value of Death, from which a report is forthcoming. Looking back at 2014, have developments in precision oncology and immunotherapy changed your thinking about death?

Dr. Smith: In 2014, as you note, I unintentionally created global furor by arguing in a blog post that cancer is the best way to die. Nothing else that I’ve ever written has created such a storm, but many physicians, aware of the three broad alternatives, agreed with me. Sudden death may seem attractive but can leave great pain among those you love. Organ failure is prolonged and messy, and the long, slow death of frailty and dementia is exhausting for everybody. Dying from cancer, I wrote: “You can say goodbye, reflect on your life, leave last messages, perhaps visit special places for a last time, listen to favorite pieces of music, read loved poems, and prepare, according to your beliefs, to meet your maker or enjoy eternal oblivion.” I recognized that I may have succumbed to romanticism, but I argued that such a death “is achievable with love, morphine, and whisky.” “But,” I warned, “stay away from overambitious oncologists.”

Now, you tell me that precision oncology and immunotherapy have developed and ask me if my attitude has changed. I have a friend with metastatic malignant melanoma who is kept alive by immunotherapy and would probably be dead if it were still 2014.

For the past three years, I have been chairing the Lancet Commission on the Value of Death, and we hope to publish our report in spring of next year. Our starting point is that medicine and society have developed an “unhealthy” relationship with death. We find that few health professionals disagree, and most people have stories of grisly deaths in hospital. Indeed, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic we have become used to people who are dying in intensive care communicating with their loved ones only through iPads and accompanied only by masked and gowned strangers.

What is wrong with how medicine and society approach death? Firstly, death, many would argue, is the most important event in our lives. Plato called philosophizing an apprenticeship for death, and the Irish thinker Kevin Toolis argues that “The world makes sense to us because we die, not because we don’t.” We can surely all agree that death is a community, family, and spiritual event—not simply a medical event. The job of culture, often assigned to religion, is to give meaning to death. Medicine cannot provide meaning, and yet in high-income countries (and increasingly in poorer ones) death has degenerated to a medical event with reduced family, community, and spiritual involvement. People are unfamiliar with death and dying, as the dying and the dead are hidden in hospitals. “The experiment of making mortality a medical experience is just decades old. It is young. And the evidence is it is failing,” wrote Atul Gawande in his book Being Mortal.

A second problem is that aggressive treatment may often prolong life but increase suffering. The American physician Eric J. Cassell taught us that persons, not bodies, suffer, and stretching out the process of dying and treating patients only hours from death with cytotoxic drugs, antibiotics, and even operations often increases suffering.

A third problem is the high and disproportionate expenditure at the end of life. Even if this expenditure were to benefit the individual, which it often doesn’t, it makes no sense to the broader community. Resources are diverted not only from more cost-effective health care but also from the factors that shape health—education, housing, urban design, and reducing poverty.

The answer of the Lancet Commission is to rebalance death and dying, shifting it from a medical event to something that is owned by families and communities with support from health professionals. In case such a vision seems Utopian, we can point to where it is already happening—in Kerala in South India and in Compassionate Community programs that are developing around the world.

What would such a vision mean for precision oncology and immunotherapy? I would favor them if they can prolong life without prolonging suffering and without increasing the division between the few in the world who have excellent end-of-life care and the majority who have no access to opiates and even the most basic palliative care. But are they part of medicine’s Faustian pursuit of immortality, which is explicit among well-funded companies in California and implicit in conventional medical research that attempts to cure every disease? And can precision oncology and immunotherapy be part of a world where health professionals are supporters not leaders at the end of life, and we regain some connection with the meaning of death? I’m not sure, but I’m skeptical.

Dr. Smith can be reached at richardswsmith@yahoo.co.uk.

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Copyright: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.