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Cancer and its treatment continue to cause significant pain and suffering for both patients who survive as well as for those who do not. For patients in palliative or end-of-life care, multiple concurrent physical and psychological symptoms are to blame. For many reasons, issues such as pain, fatigue, anorexia, loss of physical and/or cognitive function, depression, bone loss, sexual dysfunction, oral and/or gastrointestinal mucositis, and mood swings are frequently underassessed as well as undertreated. Because such side effects are responsible for diminished quality of life and may require treatment modifications that ultimately contribute to poorer outcomes and possibly shorter survival, these issues warrant supportive care.

The Fourth Chicago Supportive Oncology Conference will offer attendees current perspectives on these and other palliative care concerns for patients with cancer and for the medical professionals who treat them. Not only does the meeting include overviews of toxicities associated with selected cancers and their therapies, it provides state-of-the-art management alternatives, guidelines for improving communication with patients, and key considerations in end-of-life care.