Palliative Care Clinical Practice Guidelines (NCCN, 2021)

Clinical practice guidelines on palliative care in oncology were published in July 2021 by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network: JNCCN.^[1]

According to the NCCN, the focus of palliative care is the optimal management of distressing symptoms, in addition to patient-centered psychosocial and spiritual care. Specific recommendations include the following:

Patients and their families and caregivers should be told that palliative care is an essential component of comprehensive cancer care
All patients with cancer should be repeatedly screened for palliative care needs, beginning with their initial diagnosis and thereafter at intervals as clinically indicated
The primary oncology team should initiate palliative care, which is then augmented by collaboration with palliative care experts
An interdisciplinary team of palliative care specialists should be available to provide consultation or direct care to patients and/or families as requested or needed
All health care professionals should receive education and training to develop palliative care knowledge, skills, and attitudes
Institutional quality improvement programs should monitor the quality of palliative care

For more information, please go to Palliative Care of the Patient With Advanced Gynecologic Cancer.

Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.

Cite this: Palliative Care Clinical Practice Guidelines (NCCN, 2021) - Medscape - Aug 09, 2021.

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