Top Ten Tips for Palliative Care Clinicians Caring for Cancer Patients Receiving Immunotherapies.

Patients with cancer face an ever-changing landscape of tumor-directed therapies available to improve quality of life and potentially increase survival. The most recent advances, immunotherapeutics, offer a novel way to target cancer cells by engaging the body's own immune system. Using an expert panel of oncologists, palliative medicine physicians, and dual-trained specialists, we discuss current immunotherapies and their clinical uses, potential side effects and management strategies, and the implications of these newer treatments on goals of care conversations and care coordination. We aim to further engage palliative care specialists in the active care of cancer patients receiving immunotherapeutics and use a "Top 10" tips format to concisely present practical learning points to busy clinicians.

Duke Scholars

Author Thomas William LeBlanc Medicine, Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy

Author Arif H Kamal Medicine, Medical Oncology