A new study by Cornell University’s medical college finds that treating terminal cancer patients with chemotherapy in the months before their death may do more harm than good.
The study conducted by Weill Cornell Medical College researchers shows that rather than extending survival or easing symptoms, chemotherapy often makes the situation worse for people who are dying of cancer.
The American Society for Clinical Oncology also recommends chemotherapy be avoided for patients who can’t care for themselves or spend most of their time bed-ridden.
“This study demonstrates that palliative chemotherapy does not appear to palliate symptoms even in the most robust patients who can tolerate chemotherapy,” said Dr. Holly M. Prigerson, co-director of the Center for Research on End-of-Life Care and the Irving Sherwood Wright Professor in Geriatrics at Weill Cornell.
Prigerson and colleagues examined 661 end-stage patients with advanced metastatic disease and cancer progression following prior chemotherapy regimens who were enrolled in their study.
