The graceful exit or reluctant demise of the older adult with acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract

Older adults with acute myeloid leukemia should be better prepared for the difficult realities of their disease, and clinicians should adjust their optimism about the potential benefits of induction chemotherapy and practice under the assumption that patients will relapse or that therapy will fail. These patients and their families will then be ready for the health care burden they are about to endure and will be much more open to the suggestion of palliative approaches or hospice when the time comes, recognizing it as part of the natural course of events.