The Role of Palliative Medicine in Assessing Hereditary Cancer Risk.
Mohammed S Abusamaan, John Martin Quillin, Oluwafemi Owodunni and 8 others
PMID 29843526WHAT IT FOUND
In 75 cancer patients receiving palliative care, 24 met criteria for genetics referral, but 19 had no clear family history documented. 57 supported offering prevention services to relatives, and 48 said palliative care was the right place to discuss family history.
Key findings
0124 of the 75 enrolled patients met criteria for hereditary cancer referral.
0219 patients had no clear documentation of family history in the electronic record.
0357 patients said relatives should be offered cancer prevention services as part of palliative care, and 48 said palliative care was the right place to discuss family history.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only 75 patients at one cancer center, so the results may not apply to other palliative care settings. 43 of 118 eligible patients were excluded before enrollment, and patients likely to die within 48 hours were not included, so the sample may miss very sick patients. Referral by the palliative care team may have selected patients already thought relevant. Family history could be missed because electronic records often copy old notes without review, and the structured chart review may not have found all entries. The study did not follow relatives or test whether discussing hereditary risk changed cancer prevention or outcomes.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 32% result as proof that palliative care referral improves cancer prevention in families. It came from 75 patients at one cancer center, and the study did not test an intervention or follow relatives' outcomes.