When is palliative care appropriate for liver cancer patients?
Palliative care is a philosophy of patient care that focuses on alleviating symptoms instead of trying to cure disease. Agreeing to palliative care does not mean that you have “given See also: What Is Hospice Care? See all 197 questions about Hospice up” on life and ready to face death. On the contrary, the involvement of palliative care earlier in the course of an illness is gaining traction in the medical community because these doctors are able to manage pain control and patient comfort very effectively. Therefore, a patient with non-terminal liver cancer (meaning that the patient has a chance for recovery and is pursuing treatment that could be curative) could be warranted. That being said, palliative care is often involved later in the course of disease. A patient with stage 4 cancer without good treatment options should definitely investigate palliative care options. These patient care teams can greatly increase quality of life.
