Palliative Care for Gastrointestinal Cancer Patients. I-2. Management of Treatment-Related Adverse Events

Antineoplastic drugs, including chemotherapy, are commonly used to treat malignancies, but they often cause adverse events. Adverse events are concerning because they can deteriorate a patient’s quality of life, lead to poor treatment compliance, and possibly result in withdrawal from treatment. Thus, the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI CTCAE) [1] has listed, defined, and graded the severity of adverse events associated with cancer treatment. In this chapter, we discuss common treatment-related adverse events and their management.