The intersection of oncology, nephrology, and palliative care

Abstract

Onconephrology patients share a common feature: decreased survival. This is where Palliative Care finds a role in managing for these patients. However, during the course of illness and its treatment, providers often overlook the importance of assessing prognosis, predicting disease trajectory, and addressing goals of care discussions with patients and their family. Knowing which factors portend a poor outcome in this population helps bind together the subspecialties of Oncology, Nephrology and Palliative Care and frame interventions within patients’ treatment goals. As the life expectancies of patients suffering from cancer and kidney disease is short, knowledge of these foreboding factors helps initiate end of life planning which has shown to be beneficial for our patients’ quality of life.