Palliative care provides comprehensive support for severely affected patients with any
life-limiting or life-threatening diagnosis. To do this effectively it requires a
disease-specific approach as the patients' needs and clinical context will vary depending on
the underlying diagnosis. Experts in the field of palliative care and oncology describe in
detail the needs of patients with advanced cancer in comparison to those with non-cancer
disease and also identify the requirements of patients with different cancer entities. Basic
principles of symptom control are explained with careful attention to therapy for pain
associated with either the cancer or its treatment and to symptom-guided antineoplastic
therapy. Complex therapeutic strategies for palliative cancer patients are highlighted that
involve both cancer- and symptom-directed options and address a range of therapeutic aims.
Issues relating to drug use in palliative cancer care are fully explored and a separate
section isdevoted to care in the final phase. A range of organizational and policy issues are
also discussed and the book concludes by considering likely future developments in palliative
care for cancer patients. Palliative Care in Oncology will be of particular interest to
palliative care physicians who are interested in broadening the scope of their disease-specific
knowledge as well as to oncologists who wish to learn more about modern palliative care
concepts relevant to their day-to-day work with cancer patients.
