Dying from hematological cancers

Abstract

oncologists are also trained in hematology and often care for patients with hematological malignancies, such as leukemia and lymphoma. Although there may be little difference in biologic behavior between a leukemic blast cell and a lung cancer cell, there remains a common perception among physicians that dying from relapsed acute leukemia and progressive lung cancer differ. To substantiate this assumption, just review the most recent hematological textbooks for chapters on pain and symptom management as well as psychological treatment and the point will be obvious. Furthermore, the article in this issue of the American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care by Pam McGrath1 validates the idea that patients dying with hematological malignancies are given scant attention in regard to palliative care. In this must-read study, McGrath1 interviewed the mostly female caregivers of 10 predominantly male patients with blood malignancies, i.e., five had acute lymphocytic leukemia, two had acute myeloblastic leukemia, one had chronic myelocytic leukemia, one had chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and one had lymphoma. The qualitative analysis of these interviews was based on the principle of saturation of data, that is, common themes emerge when a number of the participants say the same thing. Several important observations were made from this study including: