ArticleHealth expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy2017
Discussing prognosis and treatment goals with patients with advanced cancer: A qualitative analysis of oncologists' language.
Article in Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Improving communication of prognostic uncertainty in advanced illness: a realist review.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- Timing of prognostic discussions in people with advanced cancer: a systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Learning through difficult disclosures of cancer progression: experiences of physicians and nurses in training.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Dynamic disease progression in non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma post-radical radiotherapy: a Markov model-based analysis in a Chinese cohort.Therapeutic advances in medical oncology · 2026Article
- Silicified curcumin microspheres Combats cardiovascular diseases via Nrf2/HO-1 pathway.Bioactive materials · 2025Article
- "I'm learning to live after cancer and its treatment": Exploring the challenges of cancer survivorship in Arkansas.SSM. Qualitative research in health · 2025Article
- "Treatable not curable": trade-offs in the use of treatment-oriented language with patients who have incurable cancer.The oncologist · 2025Article
- A Phenomenological Approach to Financial Toxicity: The-Economic-Side Effect of Cancer.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2024Article
- Patient Experience of Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Their Treatment Goals: An International Qualitative Study and Patient Journey Map.Advances in therapy · 2024Article
- Predicaments and coping strategies in implementing cancer truth-telling: a qualitative content analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- Article
- Cancer Care Terminology in African Languages.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Surgeon Perspectives on the Management of Aborted Cancer Surgery: Results of a Society of Surgical Oncology Member Survey.Annals of surgical oncology · 2024Article
- Evaluating Physician Emotion Regulation in Serious Illness Conversations Using Multimodal Assessment.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2023Review
- Prevalence and Predictors of Physician-Patient Discordance in Prognostic Perceptions in Advanced Cancer.The oncologist · 2023Article
- Prognostic Awareness, Palliative Care Use, and Barriers to Palliative Care in Patients Undergoing Immunotherapy or Chemo-Immunotherapy for Metastatic Lung Cancer.Journal of palliative medicine · 2023Article
- Cancer clinical trial providers' perspectives on communicating goals of care: A key informant study.PEC innovation · 2022Article
- Characterizing the Language Used to Discuss Death in Family Meetings for Critically Ill Infants.JAMA network open · 2022Article
- A prospective, randomized trial of patient-reported outcome measures to drive management decisions in hematology and oncology.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2022Article
- Systemic Therapy Decision Making in Advanced Cancer: A Qualitative Analysis of Patient-Oncologist Encounters.JCO oncology practice · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe National Academy of Medicine recommends that cancer patients be knowledgeable of their prognosis to enable them to make informed treatment decisions, but research suggests few patients receive this information.
objectiveThis qualitative study describes oncologists' language during discussions of prognosis and treatment goals in clinical interactions with African American patients diagnosed with cancer.
designWe analysed transcripts from video recordings of clinical interactions between patients with Stage III or IV cancer (n=26) and their oncologists (n=9). In-depth discourse analysis was conducted to describe and interpret oncologists' communication behaviours and common linguistic features in the interactions. SETTING AND
participantsData were from a larger study of patient-provider communication between African Americans and oncologists at two cancer hospitals in Detroit.
resultsPrognosis was discussed in 73.1% (n=19) of the interactions; treatment goals were discussed in 92.3% (n=24). However, analysis revealed that oncologists' description of prognosis was vague (e.g. "prognosis is a bit worse in your case") and rarely included a survival estimate. Oncologists often used ambiguous terminology, including euphemisms and jargon, and emphasized uncertainty (e.g. "lesions are suspicious for the disease"). Conversation about prognosis was frequently brief, moving quickly to the urgency and details of treatment. DISCUSSION: This study demonstrates how oncologists' language may obscure discussion of prognosis and treatment goals. The identified behaviours may lead to missed opportunities in eliciting and discussing patients' knowledge about and preferences for their care. Patient-, provider- and system-oriented interventions are needed to improve clinical communication, especially among minority patients with advanced cancer.
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