The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has issued a guideline with key recommendations for the management of the last weeks and days of life for the adult patients with advanced cancer - Clinical Practice Guideline: Care of the adult cancer patient at the end of life. This is a first-of-its-kind publication aimed at oncologists and palliative care professionals that focuses on patient comfort by addressing physical, psychosocial, and spiritual concerns. The group of multidisciplinary experts who drafted the document includes Tomasz Dzierżanowski, MD, PhD, from the Department of Social Medicine and Public Health at MUW.
The work on the publication took 3 years. New recommendations in the guide include the importance of communication with the patient and family, tools for assessing patients' spiritual needs and responding appropriately, and identifying the distress of caregivers and family members in the final days of a patient's life. Importantly, the ESMO document is a collection of clinical evidence that formulates a comprehensive approach to the dying patient. The ESMO clinical practice guidelines for EoL (end of life) care appear to synthesize the state of knowledge and best practices for care in the last days of a cancer patient's life.
Care of the adult cancer patient at the end of life: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines