Palliative service provision in Australia.

Palliative services in Australia have grown and evolved rapidly over the past 20 years. They now offer care to people facing life-limiting illness and to their families long before the stage of terminal care. A coordinated, interdisciplinary approach is most useful, but models of care vary greatly across the country. There is still unmet need, particularly among people with non-cancer illnesses and in particular regions. Choices about place of care (community or inpatient setting) may be limited by factors such as funding policies for medications.     

Palliative irradiation for liver metastases.

Eleven patients underwent palliative irradiation for symptomatic liver metastases. The whole liver is included in the radiation field. The treatment is given with a cobalt teletherapy unit. Daily doses are 150 rads calculated in the midliver plane.The total dose employed is 2,500 rads given in a three-week period. Eight patients had good response, two moderate response, and one patient failed to respond to treatment. Liver function studies and liver scans also reflected the treatment response. All patients tolerated the treatment and no deaths were attributed to liver irradiation. The impression is that radiation therapy is valuable for the treatment of symptomatic liver metastases in the young patient who does not have a terminal condition.