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Palliative radiotherapy utilization within a regional Australian palliative care unit
Peter Eastman1, Anna Dowd2, James Goonan2
1Barwon Health Department of Palliative Care, McKellar Centre, North Geelong, Victoria, Australia. eastman@gmp.usyd.edu.au.
Annals of Palliative Medicine
|November 22, 2017
Summary
Radiotherapy use in palliative care units (PCUs) is limited, with response rates for pain management lower than general populations. Further research is needed to optimize patient selection for palliative radiotherapy.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Palliative Care
- Radiotherapy
Background:
- Palliative radiotherapy effectively manages symptoms in advanced cancers.
- Limited data exists on its use in inpatient palliative care settings.
- This study evaluated radiotherapy utilization in an Australian palliative care unit (PCU).
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the utilization of radiotherapy among patients admitted to a regional Australian PCU.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of radiotherapy in this specific patient group.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study of PCU patients receiving inpatient radiotherapy.
- Analyzed clinico-demographic, radiotherapy, and outcome data.
- Opioid consumption changes served as a surrogate for radiotherapy effectiveness, compared using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Tests.
Main Results:
- 51 patients received 60 radiotherapy episodes during the study period.
- Pain management was the primary indication; most courses were multi-fractionated.
- Radiotherapy response rates, based on decreased opioid use, ranged from 32-42%; median survival was 36 days.
Conclusions:
- Radiotherapy is utilized by a small fraction of PCU admissions.
- Response rates in PCU patients were lower than in broader populations.
- Optimizing patient selection for palliative radiotherapy requires further investigation.
