ReviewClinical Medicine Insights. Oncology2020
Summarizing the Evidence Base for Palliative Oncology Care: A Critical Evaluation of the Meta-analyses.
Review in Clinical Medicine Insights. Oncology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Introduction of Various Models of Palliative Oncology Care: A Systematic Review.Reviews on recent clinical trials · 2024Pooled it
- Impact of a psychoeducational intervention to improve caregiver knowledge and attitudes toward palliative cancer care.Patient education and counseling · 2025Trial
- Predictors of Specialty Outpatient Palliative Care Utilization Among Persons With Serious Illness.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2024Trial
- Increasing Readiness for Early Integrated Palliative Oncology Care: Development and Initial Evaluation of the EMPOWER 2 Intervention.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2021Trial
- Unmet Needs of Palliative Cancer Patients: A Grounded Theory Study.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2026Article
- Feasibility and Acceptability of Symptom Management Research in Black Advanced Lung Cancer Patients.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2026Observational
- Advances in End-of-Life Care in Canada: Implications for Oncology Nursing.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Review
- Elements of effective palliative care interventions in advanced heart failure: A narrative review.ESC heart failure · 2025Review
- Symptoms, Symptom Profiles, and Healthcare Utilization in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies: A Retrospective Observational Cohort Study and Latent Class Analysis.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Observational
- Psychosocial intervention in palliative care: What do psychologists need to know.Journal of health psychology · 2024Review
- Remote Symptom Monitoring to Enhance the Delivery of Palliative Cancer Care in Low-Resource Settings: Emerging Approaches from Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Emotional distress predicts palliative cancer care attitudes: The unique role of anger.Psycho-oncology · 2023Article
- Survival of cancer patients under treatment with the palliative care team in a Brazilian hospital in São Paulo.Canadian oncology nursing journal = Revue canadienne de nursing oncologique · 2022Article
- Palliative care models for patients living with advanced cancer: a narrative review for the emergency department clinician.Emergency cancer care · 2022Review
- Survie des patients en oncologie traités par l'équipe de soins palliatifs d'un hôpital de São Paulo, au Brésil.Canadian oncology nursing journal = Revue canadienne de nursing oncologique · 2022Article
- Essential Package of Palliative Care for Women With Cervical Cancer: Responding to the Suffering of a Highly Vulnerable Population.JCO global oncology · 2021Article
- Racial Disparities in End-of-Life Care Between Black and White Adults With Metastatic Cancer.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPalliative care is a specialized approach to symptom management that focuses on supporting patients' physical and psychological quality of life throughout the disease course. In oncology, palliative care has been increasing in utilization. The evidence base for such care is also growing through the use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In this review, we aim to integrate the findings from 4 meta-analyses of palliative oncology care RCTs to examine the impact of palliative care on physical and psychological quality of life and survival.
methodWe considered 4 meta-analyses of palliative oncology care RCTs, which each used slightly different methodologies and analyses. Two of the meta-analyses included both outpatient and inpatient populations, whereas the remaining meta-analyses focused specifically on outpatient palliative oncology care.
resultsAll 4 meta-analyses reported a robust quality of life advantage for patients randomized to receive palliative care. Two meta-analyses identified a survival advantage, whereas the other 2 detected no survival differences. In 1 meta-analysis that examined high-quality RCTs of outpatient palliative oncology care, it was found that an increased survival probability for palliative care, compared with standard of care, was confined to 6- to 18-month follow-up.
conclusionsThere is a growing evidence base for palliative oncology care, as highlighted by the 4 meta-analyses considered. Such care successfully improves both physical and psychological quality of life for patients with serious illnesses, especially cancer. Clinicians should educate patients and their caregivers about the findings of these meta-analyses. Finally, governmental policies should focus on increasing palliative care access.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.