PALLIATIVE TREATMENT OF LUNG CANCER-REVIEW ARTICLE

During the last decade, there has been significant growth of PC services and increasing international awareness of the role of PC for patients with advanced illness and their caregivers. The primary goal of the palliative care inter-professional team, consisting of nursing, spiritual care, social work, and pharmacy, is to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Palliative care (PC) has shown multiple benefits to cancer patients such as better quality of life, higher patient and family satisfaction, improved disease understanding, less symptom burden, fewer depressive symptoms, less aggressive end of life care, and even improved survival with early implementation. Early integration of palliative care should be standard of care in advanced lung cancer, and ultimately in all advanced malignancies.

Keywords: palliative care, lung cancer, oncology, chemotherapy, supportive care