Palliative care

Palliative care aims to relieve symptoms of cancer and improve your ​quality of life​ rather than cure your cancer. You can have it at any stage after a diagnosis of ​advanced cancer​ . Palliative care includes:

• managing your symptoms, such as pain or sickness

• looking after your emotional, spiritual and psychological needs

• thinking about your practical needs, such as future planning and equipment you may need at home

• providing a support system for you and your family

Palliative care is sometimes called supportive care. It offers relief, support and comfort to people, both in and out of the hospital setting.

Having palliative care doesn’t mean you will die soon. It is not the same as end of life care. Palliative care can last for many years. End of life care is usually for people in their last 12 months of life.

Read about dying with cancer

Palliative treatments

Non drug and drug treatments

Palliative treatments may include non drug and drug treatments.

For example, to manage your pain or breathlessness without drugs, your doctor or nurse may suggest:

• positioning you in a particular position

• using relaxation

• using breathing techniques

• using certain techniques to manage your anxiety

Some people also use complementary therapies to help relieve:

• symptoms of cancer

• treatment side effects

These may include massage, reflexology or acupuncture.

Read more about complementary therapy

Drugs used in palliative care to manage and relieve symptoms include the following:

• different types of painkillers for a variety of pain symptoms

• laxatives for constipation

• steroids for loss of appetite, difficulty swallowing, swelling in the brain or seizures

• drugs to relieve bowel spasms

• anti sickness drugs for sickness and vomiting

• antidepressants for depression, pain or sleeping problems

• muscle relaxants for pain, anxiety or sleeping problems

• sleeping tablets or antipsychotic medications for sleeping problems

• drugs that relieve breathlessness, hiccups or other breathing problems

• drugs that stop bleeding

• antibiotics and antifungal drugs to treat bacterial and fungal infections

• drugs to relieve skin itching

Cancer treatments

Palliative care is not just about medicines to control symptoms. Cancer treatments can also reduce or get rid of symptoms. For example, they can help to reduce pain by shrinking a tumour and reducing pressure on nerves or surrounding tissues. Treatments used in this way include:

• chemotherapy

• radiotherapy

• hormone therapy

• targeted cancer drugs

• immunotherapy

• surgery

• radiofrequency ablation, which uses heat to kill cancer cells

• cryotherapy, which uses extreme cold to destroy cancer cells

Find out about treatments for your type of cancer

Palliative care team

If you have advanced cancer, you are likely to also be under the care of the palliative care team. They can support people with any stage of cancer who have troublesome symptoms or side effects from treatment. Their expertise can help with a range of issues.

Palliative care teams are made up of:

• specialist doctors and nurses

• social workers

• volunteers

• pastoral care workers

• other healthcare professionals, such as dietitians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists and counsellors

The palliative care team works together to give you relief from pain and other symptoms. They offer you support to allow you to live as well as possible. They can also help support your relatives and close friends.

Read more about coping with cancer