[Palliative therapy in cancer--Significance and practice]

Abstract

Most of advanced cancer-patients will have suffered symptoms from the local spread or dissemination of the malignancy for a variable time, but possibly for months or years. During recent years, advances in diagnosis and therapy have allowed earlier and most effective intervention, which has served to increase longevity and enhance the quality of life. However, the overall mortality from malignant disease has hardly changed in the last 40 years. There is usually a progression from unsuccessful attempt at cure to symptom palliation and, ultimately, terminal care. There will be some patients in whom appropriate palliation is compatible with cure and others who are terminal, but are amenable to palliation of certain symptoms. Therefore, the objection of palliative therapy in these individuals is to maximise their quality of life. Many differing tumors may produce a given symptom. So palliative therapy can be defined most simply as the alleviation of symptoms. Palliative therapy is most certainly not only the treatment of recurrent, but also of asymptomatic disease. The significance and practice of palliative therapy for advanced cancer will be reported.