Demystifying Cancer Deaths—Location, Location, Location

Abstract

Death is an inevitable fact of life, however over the last few decades there has been an increasing focus on the circumstances of the event. Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the Hospice movement in the UK, said "How people die remains in the memories of those who live on", 1 hence, an increased focus on the place of death for patients is timely. Sonal et al. 2 have provided an elegant study addressing the location of death of patients dying from colorectal cancer, which remains the second most common cause of cancerrelated mortality in the USA, with over 52,000 deaths per year. Assessing colorectal cancer deaths in the USA between 2003 and 2019 through national databases, they have demonstrated a progressive shift of patient deaths from within medical institutions including hospitals, nursing homes, and emergency departments, to deaths at home or in a hospice. The shift, however, is not equally distributed across the population, with Black, Asian, and American Indian and Alaska Natives (AIAN) less likely to die at home or hospice compared with white decedents, and patients with lower educational status being less likely to die at home or in a hospice.Optimal care at the end of life has been defined as being able to die free from pain, in the place of your choice, cared for with dignity and supported by the best possible care. 3 This is combined with an increasing desire for control and This article refers to: Sonal S, Jain B, Baja S, et al. Trends and determinants of location of death due to colorectal cancer in the United States. Ann Surg Oncol.