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Improving quality of life 

Improving quality of life
Chapter:
Improving quality of life
Author(s):

Shirley Bush

and Eduardo Bruera

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199550173.003.0012
Page of

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date: 22 August 2019

Chapter 12 discusses oncological treatments that may be administered with either a curative or palliative intent. If cancer in a patient cannot be cured, then the focus of treatment changes to achieving an improvement in survival time, reducing symptom burden, optimizing performance, and hence improving quality of life (QOL). Palliative care is the last of the four components of a cancer control programme, after prevention, early detection, and diagnosis and treatment. Patients with advanced cancer may experience physical, psychosocial, and spiritual difficulties throughout their illness which impact on their overall QOL. The main objective of palliative care is to improve the QOL for both patients with life-threatening illness and their families. Therefore, it is necessary to assess QOL to ascertain if this goal is being met.

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