NEJM: Early palliative care has benefits
NEJM: Early palliative care has benefits
A study published in mid-August in the New England Journal of Medicine found that in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer, "early palliative care led to significant improvements in both quality of life and mood," according to the abstract.1
The abstract states, "As compared with patients receiving standard care, patients receiving early palliative care had less aggressive care at the end of life but longer survival."
Such patients with non-small-cell-lung-cancer "have a substantial burden and may receive aggressive care at the end of life."
The researchers randomly assigned patients to receive early palliative care that was integrated with "standard oncologic care" or to receive only standard oncologic care, using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Lung (FACT-L) scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, respectively, with 151 patients randomized.
The data were collected from electronic medical records, according to the abstract.
"The primary outcome was the change in the quality of life at 12 weeks," according to the abstract.
"Despite the fact that fewer patients in the early palliative care group than in the standard care group received aggressive end-of-life care (33% vs. 54%, P=0.05), median survival was longer among patients receiving early palliative care (11.6 months vs. 8.9 months, P=0.02).
The study was performed at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital, published Aug. 17, and "general guidelines for the palliative care visits in the ambulatory setting were adapted from the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care."
Reference
- Temel JS, et al. Early palliative care for patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med 2010; 363:733-742.
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