Trial reportCancer medicine2022
Impact of early palliative care according to baseline symptom severity: Secondary analysis of a cluster-randomized controlled trial in patients with advanced cancer.
Trial report in Cancer medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- The benefits of early palliative care on psychological well-being, functional status, and health-related quality of life among cancer patients and their caregivers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC palliative care · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Quality of life for patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer randomised to early specialised home-based palliative care: the ALLAN trial.British journal of cancer · 2024Trial
- Symptom screening with Targeted Early Palliative care (STEP) versus usual care for patients with advanced cancer: a mixed methods study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023Trial
- Impact of early palliative care according to baseline symptom severity: Secondary analysis of a cluster-randomized controlled trial in patients with advanced cancer.Cancer medicine · 2022Trial
- Timing and outcomes of outpatient palliative care consultations in advanced cancer.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026Article
- How Does Symptom Management Affect Quality of Life in Palliative Care Patients? A Descriptive and Correlation Study.Scandinavian journal of caring sciences · 2026Article
- Mechanisms of Dignity Therapy: Positive Outcomes in Older Cancer Patients.Journal of palliative medicine · 2026Article
- The relationship between symptom severity of palliative care patients and caregiver readiness and strain levels.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Palliative Care Integration in Oncology: A Review and Update.Journal of hospice and palliative care · 2025Review
- Timing Matters: A Systematic Review of Early Versus Delayed Palliative Care in Advanced Cancer.Cancers · 2025Review
- Unscheduled hospitalization as a potential trigger for specialist palliative care referral in patients with high grade glioma: a retrospective analysis in a tertiary hospital.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2025Article
- Using Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Monitoring to Navigate Patients to Supportive Care Services.JCO oncology practice · 2024Article
- Article
- Inequities in access to palliative and end-of-life care in the black population in Canada: a scoping review.International journal for equity in health · 2024Article
- Interrater agreement of multi-professional case review as reference standard for specialist palliative care need: a mixed-methods study.BMC palliative care · 2023Article
- Validation Study of the PALCOM Scale of Complexity of Palliative Care Needs: A Cohort Study in Advanced Cancer Patients.Cancers · 2023Article
- Precision Palliative Care as a Pragmatic Solution for a Care Delivery Problem.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2023Article
- Integrating Palliative Care into Oncology Care Worldwide: The Right Care in the Right Place at the Right Time.Current treatment options in oncology · 2023Review
- Benefits of integrating palliative care: a qualitative exploration of the perspectives of palliative care providers in a tertiary health facility in Ghana.Palliative care and social practice · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEarly palliative care (EPC) improves the quality of life but may not be feasible for all patients with advanced cancer. Symptom screening has been suggested to triage patients for EPC, but scant evidence exists for this practice.
methodsWe conducted a subgroup analysis of a cluster-randomized controlled trial of EPC vs. standard oncology care according to patients' baseline symptom scores (high [>23] vs. low [≤23] Edmonton Symptom Assessment System Distress Score [ESAS SDS]). A linear mixed-effects model was used to account for correlation within clusters, adjusting for the baseline outcome score and all covariates in the original trial.
resultsAmong the 461 participants, baseline symptom scores were high in 229 patients (127 intervention, 102 control) and low in 232 (101 intervention and 131 control). Among those with high baseline symptoms, there was improved quality of life in the EPC arm compared to controls at 4 months (adjusted difference in primary outcome of FACIT-Sp change score [95% CI], 8.7 [2.8 to 14.5], p = 0.01; adjusted difference in QUAL-E, 4.2 [0.9-7.5], p = 0.02); there was also improved satisfaction with care (6.9 [3.8-9.9], p = 0.001) and clinician-patient interactions (-1.7 [-3.4 to -0.1], p = 0.04), but no significant difference in ESAS SDS (-5.6 [-12.7 to 1.4], p = 0.11). In the low baseline symptom group, there were no significant differences between arms for any outcomes.
conclusionEPC improved quality of life, satisfaction with care, and clinician-patient interactions only in those with high baseline symptoms. Symptom severity may be an appropriate criterion to trigger early referrals to palliative care.
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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.