Prioritizing the patient experience: Early integration of supportive/palliative care in pancreatic cancer management

Palliative care as a field centers on comprehensive symptom management and holistic care for persons with any advanced illness. In the context of cancer care, the role of the palliative care team has evolved over the past three decades as increasing body of studies demonstrate the downstream impact on patient-centered outcomes with the involvement of the subspecialty palliative care team. Furthermore, a benchmark of holistic care is the comprehensive characterization of symptoms through the implementation of tailored assessment that includes the integration of patient reported outcomes. The morbidity and mortality of pancreatic cancers, regardless of the stage of disease, calls for rigorous symptom management strategy for these patients. Here we discuss the seminal data that delineate the role for early integration of palliative care in patients with pancreatic cancer.