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Palliative care is a crucial part of the treatment spectrum for patients with cancer because these patients frequently undergo aggressive therapy, sometimes in discordance with their wishes. This Review article outlines the different elements of palliative care, including communication, quality of life, symptom control, patient satisfaction and resource utilization, and shows how it can benefit patients.
Preoperative 5-fluorouracil-based chemoradiation with optimal surgery provides very effective local control in locally advanced rectal cancer. Does adding oxaliplatin as a radiosensitizer provide any additional benefit? Is more always better?
In this article, Ruth Rechis—a 20-year survivor of Hodgkin lymphoma—describes her personal account of surviving cancer and her experience as a researcher and advocate in the field of survivorship. She provides recommendations for engaging survivors as active participants in their post-treatment, long-term survivorship care and to ensure appropriate care is universally available as part of patient-centred comprehensive care.