ONCOLOGY Vol 25 No 13

In their article, Dr. Jamie Von Roenn and Dr. Jennifer Temel demonstrate the value of enhanced symptomatic and palliative care for symptom reduction, improvement in quality of life, and, in some instances, better survival.

There has been much progress in our “war on cancer,” launched with President Nixon’s signing of the National Cancer Act in 1971. In 2011, however, it is estimated that more than 571,000 people will die from cancer.

n their article, Dennis et al call for timely integration of palliative care into standard oncology care and sustained collaboration between these two specialties, to provide comprehensive, individualized care for patients with advanced, incurable cancer and their families.[

Doctors von Gunten, Lutz, and Ferris accurately point out some of the reasons for the tragic underutilization of hospice care and ways oncologists might address this issue.

Authors von Gunten, Lutz, and Ferris have provided oncologists, and all physicians with patients who have cancer, an excellent and pithy review of how those with very advanced cancer are currently cared for as they approach the end-of-life

First, I need to reiterate what Dr. Alesi and her coauthors have so clearly stated: that there is a paucity of published data on most aspects of the delivery of palliative care (PC) services in the outpatient setting, although this now appears to be changing.

The demand for early palliative care (PC) involvement has never been greater in the setting of capitated healthcare delivery systems. The review by Alesi et al is timely in that it illustrates innovative practice partnerships with oncology groups during a time when PC is being thrust into mainstream outpatient care.[1]

The review by Alesi et al attempts to answer an important question in real clinical practice: Is it better to refer patients directly to hospice when aggressive treatments have stopped working or rather to integrate palliative care (PC) earlier in the course of a patient’s disease?

As Dennis et al demonstrate, palliative care (PC) is a unique and multifaceted philosophy of care geared towards patients living with serious illness, not only those dying from it.

This article will review the overlap between palliative care and oncology and discuss the available evidence that true integration of palliative and oncology care provides patients with optimal oncology care.

Patients with advanced progressive cancer require care plans that address their physical, emotional, and psychosocial needs, as well as their goals of care.

In this article, prognostic data are summarized and a suggested approach for discussing hospice enrollment with patients is presented.

Palliative care addresses the symptoms of cancer throughout the course of the disease. Moreover, rather than just improving end-of-life care, palliative care also improves survival.