Goals-of-care transition after an allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation: A cross-sectional survey among hematologists on associated challenges

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Patients with hematological malignancies undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) face a (procedural) mortality of about 50% against the background of a real chance of cure [ 1 ]. Therefore, timely attention to end-of-life issues during the transplant trajectory is essential in cases of an unfavorable disease course, to prevent detrimental aggressive therapies at the end of life [ 2 , 3 ]. Yet, compared to patients with solid tumors, those with hematological malignancies near death receive more invasive treatments and have less access to palliative care, which is especially pronounced among allo-HSCT recipients [ 4 ]. The time until death after a goals-of-care transition from life-prolonging to end-of-life care (hereafter shortened to “GoC transition”) is often short [ 5 ].