Behaviors and Mental Disorders

All Conditions

Quality of Life

Interventional palliative care, after diagnosis and once a month.

Patients will receive the standard oncologic care.

Palliative support team will meet the patient soon after diagnosis of incurable disease and will meet the patient at least once a month. The patient will also receive the standard oncologic care.

Interventional palliative care

Patients will receive standard oncologic care.

Standard oncologic care

Simon Vanbelle, MD, PhD

Luc Deliens, PhD, MD

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines palliative care as an approach to improve the quality of life of patients and their families facing life-threatening illness, through prevention and relief of pain and of physical, psychosocial and spiritual problems. The WHO stresses that palliative care is applicable early in the course of the illness together with other therapies that are intended to cure or prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy. For the benefit of the patient, palliative care is however often given (too) late in the course of the disease of incurably ill patients.

The aim of our study is to measure the effect of interventional palliative care on quality of life, mood and end-of-life care of patients with advanced cancer and their families. These patients have a limited life expectancy and a high symptom burden, this leads us to suggest that these patients may be benefited with palliative care soon after diagnosis of metastatic disease (interventional palliative care).

The research design of this study is a randomized controlled trial with, on the one hand, an intervention group in which patients and their families receive interventional palliative care in combination with standard cancer care and on the other hand a control group in which patients and their families receive only standard oncologic care. Participants in the intervention group will meet the palliative support team shortly after diagnosis. Afterwards, the palliative support will meet them at least once a month. This intervention focuses on topics such illness understanding, symptom management, decision making and coping with the disease. Participants in the control group will only meet with the palliative support team at the patient's own request or after referral by the oncologist or the nursing staff.

Effect of Early Palliative Care on Quality of Life of Patients With Advanced Cancer: a Randomised Controlled Trial.

This will be measured with validated questionnaires(EORTC-QLQ C30, McGill QoL, SF-36).

This will be measured with validated questionnaires (EORTC-QLQ C30, McGill QoL, SF-36).

This will be measured with validated questionnaires (HADS, PHQ-9, illness understanding).

This will be measured with the questionnaire for decisions wuth regards to end-of-life decision making for physicians.

Study title	NCT ID	Conditions	Interventions	Eligibility	Organization	Link
Effect of Early Palliative Care on Quality of Life of Patients With Advanced Cancer: a Randomised Controlled Trial.	NCT01865396	Life-limiting C...	Interventional ... Standard oncolo...	18 Years -	University Ghent
Effect of Early Palliative Care on Quality of Life of Patients With Advanced Cancer: a Randomised Controlled Trial.	NCT01865396	Life-limiting C...	Interventional ... Standard oncolo...	18 Years -	University Ghent

Spots Global Cancer Trial Database for interventional palliative care