To qualify for hospice, patients must have:
Progression of disease evidenced by at least one of the following:
- Increasing symptoms
- Worsening lab values
- Metastatic disease evidenced by scans, MRI, x-ray, biopsy, etc.
Disease Stage IV at presentation or progression from an earlier stage of disease to metastatic disease with either of the following.
- Patient continues to decline in spite of definitive therapy (i.e. chemo, radiation, surgical intervention)
- Patient is refractory or refuses further disease directed therapy.
The following factors are not absolutely necessary to qualify for hospice, but lend support:
- Recurrent disease after radiation, chemotherapy, or surgical intervention
- Weight loss of 5% or more in the last three months
- Presence of other comorbid conditions