Is every pancreatic cancer patient a palliative care patient?

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease and often presents at an advanced stage with no curative options. The disease is often characterized by rapid progression, limited or short-lived responsiveness to standard therapies, and a profound impact on patients' quality of life. Despite advances in targeted therapies and immunotherapy, curative outcomes remain elusive for the majority of patients with advanced or high-grade disease with a 5-year survival rate of less than 10%. Treatment goals must evolve beyond prolonging survival to include alleviating suffering, optimizing function, and preserving dignity. This is where palliative care assumes a vital and indispensable role. Even patients who initially present with resectable disease are at a high risk of recurrence in the future. Pancreatic cancer carries a high symptomatic burden from pain, poor nutrition, malabsorption, jaundice, fatigue as well as depression. Given the overall poor prognosis, early integration of palliative care is essential to address the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of patients and provide patients and families guidance in complex decision-making. Early palliative care involvement has proven time and time again to improve symptoms control, reduce hospitalization and may even improve survival. Palliative care should be provided concurrently with active treatment before becoming the main focus of care for patients with advanced stages of disease.