Early palliative care in cancer treatment: rationale, evidence and clinical implications
- 26 September 2013
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology
- Vol. 5 (6), 318-323
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1758834013500375
Abstract
Patients with advanced cancer often experience symptoms of disease and treatment that contribute to distress and diminish their quality of life (QOL). Care that is aimed at control of these symptoms, whether or not the patient is undergoing ongoing disease-directed therapy to control the cancer, is thus a key feature of high-quality patient-centered care. In standard oncology practice, it is easy for focus on this type of care to be obscured by discussions and management of anticancer therapy and adequate attention to QOL, patient preferences, and goals of care often occur only days to weeks from the patient’s death. The initiation of palliative care and discussion of the patients’ goals and preferences earlier in the course of disease can lead to improved symptom control, reduced distress throughout the disease-directed therapy, and care delivery that matches the patients’ preferences. This review discusses the evolving evidence for early initiation of palliative care in patients with advanced cancer and ongoing barriers to care in this setting. We highlight challenges for research and care delivery and the potential for broader awareness of the demonstrated benefits of palliative care to help translate known benefits into improved outcomes for patients facing advanced cancer.This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit:
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