[Palliative care: a perspective of comprehensive care for the cancer patient]

The purpose of this article is to ponder on the relevance of palliative care in assisting ill patients with neoplasias in their dwellings, since palliative care aims at giving patients and their families the best attainable quality of life. Despite the great emphasis placed upon this type of care being aimed at terminal patients, many of its principles are also applicable to initial stages of the disease, used in combination with the therapeutic measures required by the specific pathologic process. Thus, throughout this article, I outline some aspects concerning ethics, philosophy, and assistance which have guided this therapeutic modality from its start until today.