Soon after diagnosing a patient with advanced cancer, a doctor should begin discussing options for palliative care—the management of symptoms—according to a new policy statement from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).  ASCO also released a new, free guide called Advanced Cancer Care Planning for patients to help initiate those conversations.

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Should cancer care focused on quality of life wait until all treatment ends?  Or can it be integrated with medical treatment as soon as someone is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness?

In a study of 150 advanced lung cancer patients, starting palliative care along with standard life-prolonging treatment when patients were first diagnosed not only improved their mood and quality of life, it actually increased the time they lived.

Although patients who received early palliative care received less aggressive treatment at the end of life, they lived almost 3 months longer than patients who didn’t have such early support. Read the rest of this entry »

The summer 2010 issue of C3′s printed newsletter Momentum is now available online.

Some headlines from this issue:

• Palliative Care: Not Just for End of Life
• Listening to the Little Voice
• Patient to Patient Advice for Caregivers
• Health Care Reform & Cancer: Your Implementation Guide

You’ll also read testimonials from advocates who attended the C3 Call-on Congress in March and learn about the young, innovative researcher who is looking into new treatments for late stage colorectal cancer, thanks to a grant from C3.

To receive Momentum free at home, sign up at the C3 Action Center.

Regular phone calls from specially trained nurses improved quality of life and reduced depression in rural patients with advanced cancer. However, the calls didn’t reduce cancer symptoms or time in the hospital.

While patients in the telephone based-palliative care program did live slightly longer than patients who received regular care, the difference wasn’t significant. Read the rest of this entry »

When advanced cancer patients talk with their doctors about preparing for the end of their lives, they have a better quality of life as death approaches.  They aren’t more likely to be depressed, and they receive less aggressive care in the last week of life.

Because it is frightening and uncomfortable, many patients don’t bring up the subject with their doctors.  Doctors avoid end-of-life discussions because they, too, find them uncomfortable and because they fear depressing patients or causing emotional problems. Read the rest of this entry »