Supportive care practice: do we need guidelines?

To review the role of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines in promoting the quality and consistency of supportive care in oncology to meet the needs of practitioners and patients.

To maintain quality, guidelines must be regularly updated in terms of content as new treatment modalities like immunotherapy are introduced, adapted to new methodologies such as the application of artificial intelligence, adoption of multiple symptoms or orphan symptoms and capture new endpoints such a patient-reported outcomes. This helps prevent a major barrier to implementation; negative attitudes of practitioners towards guidelines. Digital guidelines provide greater opportunities for dissemination, ease of updating and can be linked to education modules. The quality must be assured by critically appraising the literature and then grading the level of evidence of the guidelines. The benefits of supportive care guidelines include guidance for clinical decision-making in a changing field, continuing professional development of practitioners, a source of information for patients and in highlighting the gaps where further research is necessary.

The implications are that guidelines are required for supportive care in cancer but they must be constantly updated and evolve in their structure, the rigour of appraisal and content to promote quality care.