Dementia and comorbid cancer: challenges and implications for nursing practice
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Dementia and comorbid cancer: challenges and implications for nursing practice

Kay de Vries Professor of older people’s health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, England
Fiona Chaâbane Consultant Admiral Nurse and clinical nurse specialist, specialist in younger onset dementia and Huntington’s disease, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, England
Karen Harrison Dening Head of research and publications, Dementia UK, London and professor of dementia nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To be aware of the challenges in care that can arise when a person living with dementia develops cancer

  • To recognise the importance of cancer screening and assessment in people living with dementia

  • To consider how the treatment and care of people living with dementia and comorbid cancer could be improved

Data regarding the prevalence of dementia and the prevalence of cancer suggest that a relatively large number of older people living with dementia may also have unsuspected comorbid cancer. Research into dementia and comorbid cancer is limited. The existing literature shows that people living with dementia have much lower cancer survival rates than people who do not have dementia, perhaps due to advanced age and cancer being diagnosed at a late stage or not at all. In people with dementia, investigating and managing cancer is complicated by cognitive impairment, atypical presentation, communication difficulties and potential behavioural issues – all of which may deter healthcare professionals from conducting patient assessments and screening tests. In this article, the authors use a case study to illustrate the challenges that can arise when a person living with dementia develops cancer, particularly in relation to diagnosis, pain assessment, decision-making and carer involvement.

Cancer Nursing Practice. doi: 10.7748/cnp.2023.e1836

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

kay.devries@dmu.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

de Vries K, Chaâbane F, Harrison Dening K (2023) Dementia and comorbid cancer: challenges and implications for nursing practice. Cancer Nursing Practice. doi: 10.7748/cnp.2023.e1836

Published online: 21 March 2023

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