A recent study published by Belgian researchers attests to the systematic usefulness of palliative care for people suffering from cancer. It shows that they improve the quality of life of patients, and this by being offered to patients early.
About one in three French people was hospitalized in a palliative care unit during the year preceding their death. For people with cancer, this rate rises to 52%. This is what indicates a survey published by Public Health France last December.
Belgian researchers have investigated the beneficial effects of supportive care on cancer patients when started early. Their results are published on the The Lancet Oncology website.
Results confirmed by two tests
For three years, scientists studied the positive effects of palliative care on 186 patients. All were over 18 years old and had a serious tumor that appeared less than 12 weeks ago. 92 received palliative care, 94 received only their cancer treatment. To measure the improvement in the quality of life, the researchers use two scales: the EORTC (for European organization for research and treatment of cancer) QLQ C30, a self-questionnaire and the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire, developed there is over 20 years old.
Patients who received supportive care performed better. With the first test, the score is 61.98 against 54.39 for the other group. With the second test, the score is 7.05 against 5.94 for the group without. For researchers, this shows the benefits and therefore the importance of integrating this care early and systematically into cancer treatment.
The benefit of supportive care
The French-speaking association for supportive oncological care campaigns for the development of this type of treatment for people with cancer. Calming against pain, psychological help, rehabilitation aid, this care is adapted to the needs of the person. These are all treatments apart from those relating to the disease itself.
AFSOS, for example, recently published a guide for professionals which lists the possible interactions between cancer treatment and herbal medicine. It also identifies the benefits of herbal medicine on certain negative effects of treatments.
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