Palliative Care and Oncology

According to the World Health Organization, 40 million people worldwide need palliative care annually.

This specialized care provides relief from symptoms and stress caused by serious illnesses. The goal is to improve the quality of life for patients who have cancer, congestive heart failure, kidney disease and other conditions.

The Center to Advance Palliative Care reports that 94% of hospitals in the nation with 300 or more beds has a palliative care team.

Cancer can take a physical and emotional toll on a patient. However, palliative care goes beyond focusing on the disease. Instead, these specialists treat you as a whole person and work with you, your family and other physicians to give you the support you need.

The American Cancer Society estimated 1.9 million new cancer diagnoses and 608,570 cancer deaths in 2021. The top estimations were for cases of breast or prostate cancer. Several studies claim women have a 1 in 2 chance of developing cancer within their lifetime, while men have a 1 in 3 chance.

Just as early intervention provides the best chance to stop the spread and growth of cancer and tumors effectively, early implementation of a pain management program offers the greatest chance of relieving pain associated with cancer or cancer treatments. The American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends seeking a physician's opinion as soon as pain begins versus waiting for it to escalate to excruciating levels that could require higher doses of powerful medications.

Because people have varying pain thresholds, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) urges patients to describe the following elements of pain so that physicians can assess which pain control plan might be most effective:

• Location
• Feeling
• Strength
• Duration
• Time of day
• Inconvenience
• Exacerbating or alleviating factors

Armed with this information, physicians can decide on the appropriate medications for treatment and your other needs. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), palliative care goes beyond just pain management. It can also provide relief from cancer symptoms like constipation and shortness of breath. In addition, these services help patients determine an advocate, walk patients and their caretakers about what to expect throughout treatment, provide information about at-home support and offer emotional/ spiritual support.

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