Palliative care involves managing the cancer, alleviating symptoms and addressing personal care needs, and managing comorbidities (see part a of the image below). Personal care needs include acute issues, chronic issues, psychosocial issues, and existential and/or spiritual issues (part b of the image).

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

- Supportive care for patients with late-stage disease.
- Often underutilized/delayed
- Note: Palliative care is NOT hospice care though it includes hospice care.

Palliative Care (not hospice care)

Hui, D., & Bruera, E. (2016). Integrating palliative care into the trajectory of cancer care. Nature reviews. Clinical oncology, 13(3), 159–171. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2015.201

Integrating palliative care into the trajectory of cancer care | Nature Reviews | Clinical Oncology 

- Palliative-care programs at clinics/hospitals should be named as 'supportive care' rather than 'palliative care'
- Educate oncologists about palliative care.
- Educate palliative care specialists about oncology.
- Accelerate research and clinical trials on palliative care.


Palliative Care | Areas for Improvement

Palliative Care Aspects

- Palliative care should be administered to patients with advanced-stage cancer (e.g., Stage IV cancer, aggressive and treatment-resistant Stage III cancers). 
- Patients who receive palliative care early (when they have advanced-stage cancer or have severe symptoms) have a better quality of life and possibly live longer than patients who receive palliative care only when they're at the end of life (i.e., ~ 30 days before dying).
- NOTE: Palliative care ≠ Hospice care.

Palliative Care Timing

- Palliative care teams need to be involved, although oncology teams and psychological teams also play a big role.

Who Administers Palliative Care?

- Better quality of life
- Usually better mood and symptom burden
- Maybe improved survival

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