An intervention of palliative care visits triggered only by changes in course of disease, treatment, or quality of life was as effective as monthly visits for maintaining QOL in patients with advanced lung cancer.
Early palliative care, shown to improve quality of life (QOL) and survival, is recommended for patients with advanced cancer, yet implementation is challenging due to limited resources. In this multicenter, nonblinded, noninferiority trial, 507 adults with advanced lung cancer diagnosed within the prior 12 weeks were randomized to receive early or stepped palliative care.
Early care involved outpatient visits every 4 weeks and inpatient palliative care during hospital admissions. Stepped care involved an initial outpatient visit and subsequent visits only with specific events (cancer progression, treatment toxicity, discontinuation of therapy) or after hospitalization; in addition, patients were stepped up to visits every 4 weeks if they had…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresNothing to disclose
DisclosuresNothing to disclose