The 5-year survival rate among patients with cancer is now 66%.^[1] For childhood cancer, progress in diagnosis and treatment has transformed a once uniformly fatal disease into a group of malignancies that are now curable in most patients. With the increasing use of risk-based high-intensity therapy and the resulting improvement in survival, the number of cancer survivors is growing rapidly^[1]; in the United States, the number of cancer survivors.

Newswise — Despite the long-held belief by many doctors that discussing end-of-life issues with patients increases the patients' emotional distress, such conversations can actually lead to improved quality of life -- both for patients and their loved ones, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers and colleagues have found.