BMJ 1995;310:246-247 (28 January)

Education and debate

Controversies in Management: Chemotherapy for solid tumours

G M Mead, consultant in medical oncology a

a Department of Medical Oncology, Royal Southampton SO9 4PE

Routine treatment not yet justified

Most patients with advanced or metastatic cancer will at some point be considered for chemotherapy or, occasionally, biological therapy--for example, interferon. These treatments are of limited specificity and commonly result in short term toxicity; they may also be expensive. If cure or increased survival is a realistic possibility these considerations are important but do not alter the treatment approach. However, most cancers are incurable once metastatic and often respond poorly to chemotherapy, which can result in side effects, inconvenience, and financial costs without improvements in symptoms or survival. In practice, partly because of the limited resources available in Britain, chemotherapy is often not discussed with, much less given to, many such patients. Increasingly, however, patients demand access to all available options, and the issue then is should treatment be considered, and if so with single or multiple drugs (with . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Chemotherapy for solid tumours
A G Dalgleish
BMJ 1995 310: 1328-1329. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Davis, M. P. (2005). Integrating palliative medicine into an oncology practice. AM J HOSP PALLIAT CARE 22: 447-456  
  • Dalgleish, A G (1995). Chemotherapy for solid tumours. BMJ 310: 1328c-1329 [Full text]  
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