Narrative reviewcited by the Tayebat archiveabstract only checked A-CHM-18 standard review
Too much chemotherapy close to death is a recognised problem
Aggressiveness of cancer care near the end of life: is it a quality-of-care issue?
Overview
Earle CC et al.. J Clin Oncol 2008 · PMID 18688053 · DOI 10.1200/JCO.2007.15.8253
Review of chemotherapy overuse and late hospice referral in the USA.
Does the study support the specific claim? Yes · Methodological quality: low
Plain-language summary
Study explained simply
- What did the researchers want to find out?
Review end-of-life care.
- How was the study done?
Narrative.
- What was actually found?
Overuse trends.
- What do the results mean in everyday life?
Plan end-of-life care early.
- What are the study's limitations?
Narrative.
- What does it say about Elawady's specific claim?
Supports end-of-life point only.
- Do the results apply to Germany and Europe?
Low-moderate.
- What can explicitly not be concluded from this study?
Curative-setting conclusions.
Scientific in-depth review
1. Full reference
- Authors
- Earle CC, Landrum MB, Souza JM, Neville BA, Weeks JC, Ayanian JZ
- Journal
- J Clin Oncol
- Year
- 2008
- Identifier
- PMID 18688053 DOI 10.1200/JCO.2007.15.8253 · PMC2654813
- Verification
- verified – PubMed E-utilities efetch, 2026-10-25
- Retracted
- no
- Corrections
PubMed lists: ErratumIn (J Clin Oncol. 2010 Jul 1;28(19):3205), ErratumIn (J Clin Oncol. 2011 Nov 20;29(33):4472)
- Extent checked
- abstract only
- Conflicts of interest and funding
not stated in abstract | Grants: NCI NIH HHS
2. Research question
Aggressiveness of cancer care near end of life as a quality issue.
3. Study design and population
- Study design
- Narrative review – Narrative review with updated analyses
- Population
Cancer patients near death (US data)
- Country
USA
- Period
not applicable
- Sample size
not applicable
- Inclusion and exclusion criteria
not applicable
4. Methods and endpoints
- Exposure / intervention
Chemotherapy near death; hospice use
- Comparator
not applicable
- Endpoints
Indicators of aggressive care
- Statistical methods
not stated
5. Actual results
- Results
Discusses trends and factors in chemotherapy overuse near death and hospice underuse (no numbers in abstract).
- Absolute risks
not reported in abstract
- Authors' conclusion
Whether overly aggressive treatment is a quality-of-care issue is an open question.
6. Strengths
- Expert synthesis
7. Weaknesses
- Narrative; no abstract numbers
8. Risk of bias
- Orienting tool
- none applicable
- Type of assessment
- simplified assessment (abstract only)
- Full formal assessment
- no
- Overall risk of bias
- not assessable
- Rationale
Narrative review.
9. Assessment of the statistical interpretation
Not applicable.
10. Relevance to the specific claim
End-of-life context.
11. Independent contrary findings
12. Transferability to Germany and Europe
Low-moderate (US system).
13. Overall methodological judgement
Context citation.
| Multidimensional assessment | |
|---|---|
| Authenticity of the source | verified |
| Methodological quality | low |
| Risk of bias | not assessable |
| Precision of results | not applicable |
| Directness | direct |
| Reproducibility | unknown |
| Consistency with the overall evidence | unknown |
| Regional transferability | low |
| Adequacy of the interpretation (by the archive) | essentially correct but incomplete |
14. Open questions
15. Linked fact checks
Use by the Tayebat archive
Note: according to the archive, the studies were compiled by the archive operators. Whether Dr. Elawady himself cited this study is not established.
- What the archive says about the study
Listed in bibliography.
- A. What was actually studied?
End-of-life aggressiveness.
- B. What did the authors find?
Trends of chemo overuse near death.
- C. What conclusions do the authors themselves draw?
Open question.
- D. What does the archive derive from it?
Over-treatment.
- E. Is this derivation scientifically justified?
Appropriate for end-of-life care only.
- Adequacy of the interpretation (by the archive)
- essentially correct but incomplete