Systematic versus on-demand early palliative care: results from a multicentre, randomised clinical trial (original) (raw)

2016, European Journal of Cancer

Background: Early palliative care (EPC) in oncology has been shown to have a positive impact on clinical outcome, quality-of-care outcomes, and costs. However, the optimal way for activating EPC has yet to be defined. Methods: This prospective, multicentre, randomised study was conducted on 207 outpatients with metastatic or locally advanced inoperable pancreatic cancer. Patients were randomised to receive 'standard cancer care plus on-demand EPC' (n Z 100) or 'standard cancer care plus systematic EPC' (n Z 107). Primary outcome was change in quality of life (QoL) evaluated through the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy e Hepatobiliary questionnaire between baseline (T0) and after 12 weeks (T1), in particular the integration of physical, functional, and Hepatic Cancer Subscale (HCS) combined in the Trial Outcome Index (TOI).