Acta Medica Port
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Palliative care in oncology is an interdisciplinary approach, centered on patients and their families, carried out along the course of neoplastic diseases, based on symptom control, assertive communication and shared decision-making. Although clinical guidelines recommend a holistic intervention, early integration of palliative care into traditional oncological treatment, research shows a great delay in referral of patients, restricting palliative care to end-of-life care. ⋯ It is necessary to take measures that encourage oncologists to obtain further training in palliative care, as a formal, compulsory internship, integrated in their specific training program. This way, a new generation of physicians will surely change the lives of cancer patients, and their families, integrating - without disproportionate rationing - oncology and palliative medicine.
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Comment Letter
[Choosing Wisely Portugal: The View of Portuguese Doctors].