ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2016
Polypharmacy in the terminal stage of cancer.
Article in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- Duration of palliative care before death in international routine practice: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2020Pooled it
- What is the evidence for mirtazapine in treating cancer-related symptomatology? A systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2020Pooled it
- 'Do I actually even need all these tablets?' A qualitative study exploring deprescribing decision-making for people in receipt of palliative care and their family members.Palliative medicine · 2025Article
- Pharmacist-led deprescribing interventions for cancer patients in a specialist palliative care setting.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Medication Prescriptions for Chronic Diseases in Terminal Cancer Patients in Korea: A Real-World Study.Journal of hospice and palliative care · 2025Article
- "Starting to think that way from the start": approaching deprescribing decision-making for people accessing palliative care - a qualitative exploration of healthcare professionals views.BMC palliative care · 2024Article
- Pharmacological Prescription at the End of Life: Quality Assessment in the Transition of Care to a Community Palliative Care Support Team.Pharmaceutics · 2024Article
- Impact of palliative care at end-of-life Covid-19 patients - a small-scale pioneering experience.BMC palliative care · 2024Article
- Combination of High-Dose Parenteral Ascorbate (Vitamin C) and Alpha-Lipoic Acid Failed to Enhance Tumor-Inhibitory Effect But Increased Toxicity in Preclinical Cancer Models.Clinical Medicine Insights. Oncology · 2024Article
- Pharmacological management of acute spinal cord injury: a longitudinal multi-cohort observational study.Scientific reports · 2023Observational
- What is the effectiveness and safety of mirtazapine versus escitalopram in alleviating cancer-associated poly-symptomatology (the MIR-P study)? A mixed-method randomized controlled trial protocol.BMC palliative care · 2022Article
- Prescription trends at the end of life in a palliative care unit: observational study.BMC palliative care · 2022Observational
- Methodological Challenges for Epidemiologic Studies of Deprescribing at the End of Life.Current epidemiology reports · 2021Article
- Prescribing practices, patterns, and potential harms in patients receiving palliative care: A systematic scoping review.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2021Article
- Therapeutic Futility in Terminal Cancer Patients: A Retrospective and Observational Study.Cureus · 2021Article
- Demographics in the 2020s-Longevity as a challenge for pharmaceutical drug development, prescribing, dispensing, patient care and quality of life.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2020Article
- The impact of palliative care consults on deprescribing in palliative cancer patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2020Article
- How many older adults receive drugs of questionable clinical benefit near the end of life? A cohort study.Palliative medicine · 2019Article
- Frequency of Polypharmacy in Advanced Cancer Patients Consulted with the Palliative Service of Imam Khomeini Hospital (Tehran), Iran, 2017Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2019Article
- Drug interaction screening in SWOG clinical trials.American journal of health-system pharmacy : AJHP : official journal of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThis study aims to determine the numbers of patients with advanced cancer receiving polypharmacy at the end of their lives and analyze differences in drug prescription at a general oncology ward and a dedicated palliative care ward.
methodsA retrospective single-center cohort study at a university hospital with a large cancer center was conducted. The charts of 100 patients who had died because of advanced cancer were reviewed; data concerning sociodemographic variables and medications were collected at four predefined time points (9, 6, 3, 0 days before death).
resultsNine days before death, polypharmacy was registered in 95 % of patients; they had prescriptions for 11 (9-13) different medications per day (median, IQR). Although this number dropped significantly, on the last day as many as 61 % of the patients were still taking more than 4 drugs (median 6.5, IQR 4-9). No significant difference was noted between the oncology ward and the palliative care ward. Polypharmacy was largely dependent on the patients' ECOG performance status as well as the type of ward, the number of days before death, and age. It was not influenced by gender, the duration of hospital stays, and the devices facilitating drug administration. The medications fulfilled the requirements of palliative care in the majority of patients; 90 % received treatment for pain and anxiety. Patients treated at the palliative ward received more opioids and psychoactive drugs while those at the oncology ward received more anti-cancer drugs and fluids.
conclusionsPolypharmacy still is a problem in the large majority of patients with terminal cancer. Further studies should be focused on the patients' quality of life, drug interactions, and adverse events.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.