A 57-Year-Old Man Visits His Primary Care Physician Due to Fatigue

A 57-year-old man visits his primary care physician due to fatigue, cough, and unintentional weight loss of 18.1 kg (40 lb) .  Following an extensive evaluation, he is found to have squamous cell lung carcinoma with metastases to the liver and is classified as stage IV.  The patient is referred to an oncologist, who begins a standard chemotherapy regimen.  On follow-up several weeks later, his tumors appear to have decreased by approximately 45%.  At that time, the patient requests a family meeting with his primary care physician and oncologist to discuss future planning with his wife and 2 college-aged children.  At the meeting, the patient is tearful and says that he knows that he may not have long to live and wants to spend as much quality time as possible with his family before he becomes too ill.  He is also concerned about how his family will cope when he is gone.  Which of the following interventions would best address the patient's concerns?

A) Arranging for home hospice
B) Arranging a meeting with a chaplain
C) Foregoing further disease-modifying medical treatment
D) Starting palliative care
E) Starting prophylactic cranial irradiation therapy to delay brain metastases