End-of-life care treatment can make a tremendous difference in a patient's quality of life. A study of 151 patients with advanced lung cancer were divided in to two groups; one group began receiving palliative care immediately upon diagnosis, the other did not, and the differences in their outcomes were striking. Patients receiving palliative care reported less pain, less depression, and more mobility. Although the palliative care patients frequently requested fewer aggressive treatments, they also lived nearly three months longer than patients receiving standard treatments.
The study, published online last Wednesday by The New England Journal of Medicine, has received large media coverage. The New York Times, Associated Press, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, have written articles about the study. Many health related blogs, such as Pallimed, GeriPal, Dr. Len's Cancer blog (American Cancer Society), and New Health Dialogue are posting about what this study means to the field of palliative care. The study was the topic of this morning’s The Diane Rehm Show on NPR, and included guests Dr. Diane Meier (director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care) and Dr. Atul Gawande (author of a recent piece on end-of-life care in the New Yorker.)
An editorial by Amy S. Kelley, M.D., M.S.H.S. and Diane E. Meier, M.D. also accompanied the study.
