Oncology Case Report - When Is the Appropriate Time to Integrate Palliative Care?

Many patients with advanced, non-curable cancer experience disease progression to a stage requiring symptomatic care alone. The integration of palliative care into oncology practice is therefore important, with many studies showing the benefits of early introduction of palliative care. In addition to symptom relief, palliative care can include psychological, social, and spiritual support. Although all oncologists provide basic palliative care, recent data indicate that the parallel involvement of a specialist palliative team that addresses the psychological, social, and spiritual needs of patients may be advantageous for both patients and their families. This mode of early integration of palliative care has been found to enhance patient quality of life and to provide more effective use of costly treatments. In Czech hospitals, however, this mode is rarely employed. Palliative care is usually perceived as an end-stage approach, which is initiated only when all other anticancer treatment modalities have been exhausted. This case describes the challenges and missed opportunities when palliative care was initiated late during the dying phase of a young female patient with metastatic colorectal cancer, and it discusses the potential benefits of early integration of palliative care. Supported by Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, grant No. 15-33590A. All rights reserved. The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study. The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE recommendation for biomedical papers. Submitted: 27. 11. 2018 Accepted: 7. 6. 2019.