Radiation Oncology in Palliative Cancer Care

Image of the book cover for 'Radiation Oncology in Palliative Cancer Care'
Author: Stephen Lutz, MD MS, Edward Chow, MBBS MSc PhD FRCPC, Peter Hoskin, MD FRCP FRCR
Affiliation: Blanchard Valley Regional Cancer Center, Findlay, OH
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Publication Date: 2013
ISBN 10: 1118484150
ISBN 13: 9781118484159
eISBN: 9781118484173
Edition: 2nd
Description:
Radiation Oncology in Palliative Cancer Care represents the first dedicated attempt in book form to address the glaring absence of a well-written palliative radiation therapy reference and textbook that provides a template for the end-of-life care of patients who require intervention by Radiation Oncologists as well as Hospice and Palliative Medicine Professionals working together. Palliative radiotherapy will gain increasing importance in the provision of end-of-life care for cancer patients in the coming years, and there is an immediate need for an instructive reference and textbook to guide this growth. Even in developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, palliative care professionals believe that radiation therapy is important for their common cancer patients. Yet while they do have ready access to radiation oncology specialists and facilities, only about half of them feel sufficiently trained to identify situations where palliative radiotherapy might be most useful. The initial five chapters of the book provide readers unfamiliar with the specifics of Radiation Oncology a framework from which they can gain the most clinical knowledge out of the ensuing treatment-oriented chapters. Meanwhile, most radiation oncologists engaged in the palliative use of radiotherapy are not fully trained and up to date in overall principles and techniques of palliation and symptom control. Five chapters in this book deal with these issues and serve to augment the radiation oncologist's education in a way that helps to make up for any absence of the provision of this knowledge in their training programs. The book also addresses the challenges of providing proper palliative radiotherapy care in developing countries, where the problems are different and can be even more difficult to surmount.
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