The purpose of this study is to examine the existing literature on end-of-life dream experiences and bucket list fulfillments among terminally ill individuals receiving hospice and/or palliative care.

A scoping review registered on Open Science Framework was conducted in accordance with the guidelines for Scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR). An electronic search of literature was generated from EBSCO databases published until June 2024. Studies were included if they described and evaluated the effects of bucket lists and/or end-of-life wish fulfillment.

This review identified 2,234 studies, and 11 of these were included in the review. Four major themes were established using thematic content analysis: (1) impact on holistic well-being, (2) role of family in wish fulfillment, (3) cultivation of gratitude, and (4) collaborative leadership in wish fulfillment. In wish fulfillment, the results significantly pointed to the need for more intricate evaluation among patients and interventions that cover beyond the physical aspect.

Palliative and hospice care settings should work toward securing sustainable funding for structured wish-fulfillment programs to address existing accessibility gaps and further enhance the holistic nature of care in these settings. Wish-fulfillment interventions represent a powerful tool in enhancing dignity and holistic experiences for terminally ill patients. Future research efforts could strengthen programs ensuring every individual is able to achieve a sense of peace, fulfillment, and closure during their care trajectory.

Dignity Therapy (DT) helps reframe and give meaning to the illness process of the terminally ill individual. This study aims to evaluate the effect of DT on meaning in life scores and, additionally, to assess how much DT can alleviate physical and emotional symptoms in cancer patients undergoing palliative care.

This was a before-and-after clinical trial, involving the recruitment of 30 patients hospitalized in a palliative care unit, who filled out the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) and the Meaning in Life Scale (MiLS) both before and after the implementation of DT.

Of the 40 patients invited to participate in the study, DT was completed by 30 (75%) participants: 22 (73%) women and 8 (27%) men. Eighteen (60%) patients died during hospitalization, while 12 (40%) were discharged. When analyzing the factors correlated with the MiLS scores, a positive association was identified between the emotional and physical domains of the ESAS, and a negative association with the total ESAS score, spiritual ESAS score, male gender, higher educational level, and a cancer diagnosis duration (>6 years).

DT contributed to clinically relevant improvement, albeit not statistically significant, observed in emotional and spiritual well-being, as well as in the meaning of life. This underscores the importance of considering DT for palliative care patients nearing death.

Duloxetine is the only agent for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) recommended by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. As a moderate inhibitor of cytochrome P450 isoenzyme 2D6, duloxetine is theorized to decrease the efficacy of tamoxifen, which may be used to treat estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer. A case prompted our team to review the literature to elucidate the risks and benefits of duloxetine use in patients with this cancer.

We present the case of a patient with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer who was doing well on duloxetine for CIPN. Due to concern for the possible future need for tamoxifen, she was switched to multiple other agents, including venlafaxine, without success.

Ultimately, the patient was switched back to duloxetine due to persistent CIPN symptoms. The theoretical risk of tamoxifen interaction with duloxetine has not been demonstrated to be clinically significant in the literature.

While emerging evidence suggests venlafaxine may prove an effective alternative, duloxetine remains the agent with the strongest evidence of benefit in patients with CIPN and must remain an option in this patient population.