Palliative Care: Improving Quality of Life at Any Stage

By Renee Botello, MSc, Treatment and Trials Navigator

Palliative care is an area of medicine that focuses on treating the person by managing the symptoms or problems caused by a disease and/or its treatment.  By recognizing health problems and treating them comprehensively, palliative care aims to improve the individual’s quality of life, which includes their physical, mental, social, and emotional well-being.  

Embracing a palliative care approach early in the lung cancer path can offer significant benefits—but there are also challenges and opportunities in making this shift. 

A well-rounded approach to managing  lung cancer  

Many people treated for lung cancer have experienced unwanted physical or mental symptoms and side effects that can significantly impact their quality of life. Palliative care plays a crucial role in addressing these challenges. At its core, palliative care approaches each situation based on patients’ and their families’ physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs. This well-rounded approach helps patients live as fully as possible. By providing relief and emotional support, managing symptoms, and improving patients’ well-being, palliative care is integral to the multidisciplinary health approach for treating lung cancer, improving quality of life throughout the treatment experience.

Palliative care at an early stage of lung cancer: changes and challenges 

The distinction of when to use palliative care in lung cancer has evolved in recent years. Previously seen only in advanced-stage lung cancer and end-of-life care, palliative care has been recognized as a vital implementation of supportive care for patients at any stage of their lung cancer experience. Study results have demonstrated that patients receiving palliative care early and throughout their lung cancer treatment had an improved quality of life, reduced hospitalization, improved access to supportive care resources, and communication about goals of care. When emphasizing the early integration of palliative care in lung cancer treatment, patients have also shown increased management of symptoms, enhanced overall well-being, and prolonged survival with lung cancer in some cases. 

How people interact with palliative care also continues to change to meet the needs of cancer patients and their families. At the 2024 ASCO meeting, study results showed that palliative appointments via telehealth resulted in equal benefits as in-person appointments. The potential of using other mediums, such as telehealth, has implications for increased access to these services, as many people in rural areas cannot meet specialists or have reliable transportation.  

Even with changes in the access to palliative care and continued conversation of its improvement in the quality of life of individuals at earlier stages, there are still many people with lung cancer who are not aware of the many ways that palliative care can assist in providing supportive care for their personal needs. Challenges in its early implementation can include: 

1. Lack of knowledge and awareness of palliative care support: Many individuals do not fully understand the benefits and services that palliative care may offer, even earlier in the lung cancer experience. Lack of education and misconceptions around palliative care also play a role, so it’s crucial to increase awareness and understanding of palliative care and its improvement in quality of life. Research and conversations around the implementation of palliative care in oncology care continue to work to address this challenge.
   • Palliative care is NOT hospice care. A big misconception surrounding palliative care is that it is the same as hospice care. Although there are some similarities between them, including symptoms and pain management, as well as emotional support for patients and their families, hospice care is for people who are focused on end-of-life care and are no longer seeking treatment. In contrast, palliative care improves the individual’s quality of life along with their treatment.
2. Lack of access to palliative care specialists and resources: The limited availability of palliative care services and treatments pose challenges in accessing resources when needed. Access often depends on factors such as location, the type of service or therapy requested, and the availability of specialists. Overcoming these challenges involves improving resource accessibility and ensuring continuous care across various specialties in palliative care. Research is currently focused on identifying barriers to access, improving communication between individuals and care teams, and exploring more accessible delivery models for palliative care.
   
3. Patient preferences: Patients must be active participants in decision-making regarding their lung cancer treatment and quality of care. Because there may be diverse preferences in the services provided, offering individualized palliative care treatment that fully aligns with a patient’s goals can be challenging. A palliative care team will work towards having open communication, which is essential in the shared decision-making process, ensuring that the care received is most beneficial to the person. Talking honestly and openly about preferences with one’s care team can help manage individual needs.

Although implementing palliative care at an earlier stage of lung cancer can be challenging, advancements in interventions and accessibility are helping to open conversations about its future role in the field. All efforts aim to increase awareness, availability, and quality of palliative care.   

For a list of palliative care providers, visit Get Palliative Care.