Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, facing the grim fact that pancreatic cancer patients on average have about two years to live from the time of diagnosis—stage, intervention (chemotherapy, surgery, radiation) might add a couple months on to life or even a full year, though unlikely—wanted to find out whether, knowing this, patients ought to bother spending their remaining time in the hospital or receiving dubious treatments that might add a month or two to their lives, when that time might be more meaningfully spent at home with loved ones?
"It's about balancing quality and quantity of life, really," said researcher Dr. Casey Boyd. "For pancreatic cancer we know the quantity of life is short, so maximizing the quality of life is important- and the best way we can do that is to give patients concrete data that they can look at and use in their treatment decisions."
The research team analyzed the National Cancer Institute's SEER database and found 25,476 pancreatic cancer patients. They were looking for a pair of factors that tend to have a direct influence on the lives of patients with pancreatic cancer:
1. Hospital Days (or, days spent as a hospital inpatient
2. Days Spent in Medical Care (or, days spent in the hospital along with doctor visits, medical exams and tests run, and any treatments needed)
Their findings are among the first to look at hospital time and medical care time in this cancer while also looking at factors such as intervention and stage of disease. Their aim was to give doctors the tools necessary to present patients with the information necessary to make an informed decision on how they want to spend their final months or years.
"This paper is about empowering the patient," said Dr. Boyd. "We want to provide them with the information they need to make their own personalized treatment decisions."
The study is published in the journal Annals of Surgical Oncology.
Source: UTMB
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