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Despite different cancer characteristics,
a fairly universal picture of terminal disease included :
1- decreasing performance status,
2- advancing age,
3- weight loss,
4- metastatic disease,
5- disease recurrence,
6- laboratory abnormalities indicating extensive disease
.
Most of these
prognostic indicators
found were continuous,
independent risk factors for mortality.
We found little evidence that treatment improved survival at these terminal
stages, with increased risk for toxicity.
JOURNAL OF PALLIATIVE MEDICINE Vol, 15, No 2, 2012
Systematic Review of Cancer Presentations
with a Median Survival of Six Months or Less
Shelley R. Salpeter, M.D., Dawn S. Malter, M.D., Ph.D., Esther J. Luo, M.D.,Albert Y. Lin, M.D., and Brad Stuart, M.D
.