OA: Orthodox Jewish Thought Leaders’ Insights Regarding BRCA Mutations: A Descriptive Study

Journal of Oncology Practice

 Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY

Ovarian Cancer Dilemma

Therefore, when a report appears entitled “Refusal of Recommended Chemotherapy for Ovarian Cancer”¹, a malignancy where chemotherapy is long known to be associated with a high objective response rate and relatively rapid and clinically meaningful palliation of symptoms (eg, abdominal pain and bloating, decreased appetite, fatigue), it is reasonable to inquire what exactly is being reported and what lessons might be learned to impact such refusal?

The specific study in question examined patients in the National Cancer Data Base who were diagnosed with ovarian cancer (n = 147,713) over a 14-year period (January 1998 to December 2011).¹ In this database, a total of 2707 patients were reported to have “refused chemotherapy.” This conclusion was apparently drawn from a response in the database which was based on documentation in the medical records that “chemotherapy was not administered. It was recommended by the patient’s physician, but this treatment was refused by the patient, a patient’s family member, or the patient’s guardian.”¹ - See more at: http://www.onclive.com/publications/oncology-live/2016/vol-17-no-16/what-is-a-patient-who-refuses-chemotherapy-really-saying#sthash.ZkikKSE4.dpuf

Ovarian Cancer Dilemma

Therefore, when a report appears entitled “Refusal of Recommended Chemotherapy for Ovarian Cancer”¹, a malignancy where chemotherapy is long known to be associated with a high objective response rate and relatively rapid and clinically meaningful palliation of symptoms (eg, abdominal pain and bloating, decreased appetite, fatigue), it is reasonable to inquire what exactly is being reported and what lessons might be learned to impact such refusal?

The specific study in question examined patients in the National Cancer Data Base who were diagnosed with ovarian cancer (n = 147,713) over a 14-year period (January 1998 to December 2011).¹ In this database, a total of 2707 patients were reported to have “refused chemotherapy.” This conclusion was apparently drawn from a response in the database which was based on documentation in the medical records that “chemotherapy was not administered. It was recommended by the patient’s physician, but this treatment was refused by the patient, a patient’s family member, or the patient’s guardian.”¹ - See more at: http://www.onclive.com/publications/oncology-live/2016/vol-17-no-16/what-is-a-patient-who-refuses-chemotherapy-really-saying#sthash.ZkikKSE4.dpuf