Dr. Oswalt on the effects of palliative care timing on end-of-life care in mNSCLC

Dr. Oswalt on the effects of palliative care timing on end-of-life care in mNSCLC 
OncLive, Oncology Specialty Group; by Cameron James Oswalt, MD; 8/15/24 
Cameron James Oswalt MD, fellow, Hematology-Oncology, assistant professor, medicine, Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, discusses findings from a study evaluating the timing of palliative care referral and its effect on end-of-life care outcomes in patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC). ...  Investigators found that fewer than half of patients received palliative care during their treatment course, and fewer than one-third of the patients who received palliative care accessed this care within 2 months of diagnosis, ... The low referral rate in this cohort could be attributed to several factors, including patient preferences, preconceived notions, barriers to referral, and overall disease burden, he says. Among patients who died, 59.1% were enrolled in hospice.