• Robert L Umlauf and Gregory J Orloff.
• Clinical Faculty, Depsrtment of Psychiatry, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20036, USA. naturalbob@gmail.com
• Onkologie. 2006 Feb 1; 29 (1-2): 27-9.

BackgroundThe balance between quality of life and aggressive treatment fuels strong debate in cancer care. Recently, more attention is focused on blending advanced care, palliative care and hospice treatments in a patient-specific, tailored manner. This case study explores quality of life, the role of psychosocial factors in treatment selection, and the role of medical bias in end-of-life decision-making.Case ReportThe patient was a 55-year-old woman with advanced recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer. The disease course was essentially unremitting with only 5 months of non-progression after initial treatment. Multiple courses of chemotherapy were provided, in addition to a wide range of advanced and aggressive therapies to treat the cancer, as well as prolong life. Hospice care was an active part of treatment over 2 separate time periods, with a 1-year hiatus between admissions into hospice care.ConclusionThis case study provides an example of blending aggressive treatment, palliative care and hospice care to allow a patient to achieve specific life milestones, while attempting to preserve quality of life.

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