{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T04:48:18Z","timestamp":1776401298915,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,1]],"date-time":"2022-12-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1669852800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Current Oncology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Medical assistance in dying (MAID) was legislatively enacted in Canada in June 2016. Most studies of patients who received MAID grouped patients with cancer and non-cancer diagnoses. Our goal was to analyze the characteristics of oncology patients who received MAID in a Canadian tertiary care hospital. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of all patients with cancer who received MAID between June 2016 and July 2020 at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). We describe patients\u2019 demographics, oncologic characteristics, symptoms, treatments, and palliative care involvement. Results: Ninety-two oncology patients received MAID. The median age was 72. The leading cancer diagnoses among these patients were lung, colorectal, and pancreatic. At the time of MAID request, 68% of patients had metastatic disease. Most patients (90%) had ECOG performance status of 3 or 4 before receiving MAID. Ninety-nine percent of patients had distressing symptoms at time of MAID request, most commonly pain. One-third of patients with metastatic or recurrent cancer received early palliative care. The median time interval between the first MAID assessment and receipt of MAID was 7 days. Interpretation: Most oncology patients who received MAID at LHSC had poor performance status and almost all had distressing symptoms. The median time interval between first MAID assessment and receipt of MAID was shorter than expected. Only one-third of patients with metastatic or recurrent cancer received early palliative care. Improving access to early palliative care is a priority in patients with advanced cancer. Study registration: We received research approval from Western University\u2019s Research Ethics Board (REB) with project ID number 115367, and from Lawson\u2019s Research Database Application (ReDA) with study ID number 9579.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/curroncol29120739","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,1]],"date-time":"2022-12-01T03:03:41Z","timestamp":1669863821000},"page":"9407-9415","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Medical Assistance in Dying in Oncology Patients: A Canadian Academic Hospital\u2019s Experience"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"29","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2456-7987","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tony","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7333-6814","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wei","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Radiation Oncology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4E6, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aaron","family":"Leung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9910-873X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sangyang","family":"Jia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P5, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Patsy","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luke","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, Hamilton, ON L8P 1H6, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Adam","family":"Mutsaers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiation Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre\u2014Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sue","family":"Miller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"London Health Sciences Centre Medical Assistance in Dying Program, London, ON N6H 1T3, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kimia","family":"Honarmand","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shiraz","family":"Malik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Family Medicine, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Melody","family":"Qu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Radiation Oncology, Western University, London, ON N6A 5W9, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ian","family":"Ball","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C1, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"78","DOI":"10.1177\/0825859718812446","article-title":"A Canadian Academic Hospital\u2019s Initial MAID Experience: A Health-Care Systems Review","volume":"34","author":"Ball","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. 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