Palliative Care Essential During Cancer Survivorship Upswing

Experts say that palliative care during cancer survivorship has become a critical component of the oncology continuum. This comes in the wake of new data that shows that more Americans are surviving cancer. The aging population, improvements in diagnosis, and better treatment options for patients are factors, with the estimated 15,533,220 survivors in 2016 expected to increase to approximately 20,208,770 by 2026.

A patient is considered a cancer survivor beginning at the time of cancer diagnosis and extends throughout the duration of their life, according to the National Cancer Institute, National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).This includes patients with advanced cancer, all of whom, according to the ASCO’s 2017 guideline update on palliative care, should receive dedicated palliative care services starting early in the disease course. Click here to read more.