Written by Mary Marschner
Spoon Feed
In this small randomized trial in South Korea, early intervention with palliative care (EPC) demonstrated benefits in physical and emotional functioning in patients with advanced cancers not responding to standard chemotherapy. Survival benefit was noted for patients with greater than 10 palliative care interventions.
Synopsis
This randomized clinical trial investigated the effects of early integrated palliative care on quality of life (QOL), coping skills, and survival among 144 patients with advanced cancer in South Korea. EPC patients showed significantly improved QOL at 18 weeks (P = 0.04) compared to the control group, although this effect was not seen at 12 or 24 weeks. Additionally, EPC participants demonstrated enhanced self-management skills over 24 weeks (P < 0.001), with a strong effect size (0.93). While overall survival did not differ significantly, patients who completed 10 or more EPC interventions had significantly higher 2-year survival rates, highlighting the importance of adherence to EPC interventions for potential survival benefits. [AI-generated]
Palliative Care consults – early and often for advanced cancers on chemo
This article supports the value of early, separate palliative care alongside oncology, enhancing quality of life in advanced cancer patients on traditional chemo. Despite its small size (144 participants) and high dropout rate (only 39.6% completed 24-month follow-up), the study highlights benefits of distinct palliative care. Notably, while quality of life scores were similar at 24 months, patients who engaged with palliative care showed a noticeable improvement at 18 months. This suggests a significant boost from early palliative involvement, even though some patients found the number of interventions overwhelming, underscoring the need to balance care intensity with life enjoyment.
How will this change my practice?
Although it won’t change my practice, as I already support early palliative care, this study reinforces the advantages of a dedicated palliative team distinct from oncology, rather than oncologists providing these services.
Source
Early Integrated Palliative Care in Patients With Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Aug 1;7(8):e2426304. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.26304. PMID: 39115845
