SynthesisSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2026
Integration of early palliative care in cancer treatment: a meta-analysis of 39 randomized controlled trials on clinical outcomes and management optimization.
Synthesis in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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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.
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
objectiveTo compare the effects of early palliative care (EPC) and standard cancer care in terms of QoL, survival, depression, and symptom burden in patients with cancer. Early palliative care refers to palliative care starting ≤ 12 weeks since diagnosis or the beginning of first-line treatment, alongside the usual cancer care.
methodsRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted until March 2026 and comparing EPC and standard care among adult patients with cancer were found using the search engines PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CNKI, and Wanfang. The primary outcomes included QoL and OS; the secondary outcomes included depression and symptom burden. Meta-analysis was carried out using random-effect models to calculate SMDs and HRs. Potential biases were assessed with Cochrane RoB 2 and Egger's test.
resultsWe included 39 RCTs (8399 patients, 2002-2024). EPC improved QoL significantly (SMD = 0.30, 95% CI 0.25-0.35, p < 0.001; I
conclusionEPC enhances QoL and may extend the survival of cancer patients. These findings support early integration of palliative care, but findings for OS and generalizability to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) should be interpreted with caution.
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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.