Palliative Care for Cancer Patients

Optimizing quality of life (QOL) for patients and their families is a primary goal of palliative care. Indeed, clinical practice guidelines for palliative care focus on QOL issues, including alleviation of suffering, assistance with medical decision making, and bereavement counseling. However, data demonstrating positive effects from implementing such guidelines are scarce.

To assess the effects of palliative care in oncology treatment, investigators studied 322 newly diagnosed patients with advanced cancer who were randomized to usual care alone or with palliative care intervention derived from Project ENABLE (Educate, Nurture, Advise, Before Life Ends), which incorporates core elements from national palliative care guidelines. Palliative c…