Description:

Palliative care is specialized medical care for people facing a serious illness, like a hematologic malignancy. It aims to improve symptoms and quality of life, and is appropriate at any age and stage of illness. Palliative care is provided by a specially-trained, inter-disciplinary team that works together with the cancer care team to provide an extra layer of support for patients and families. A growing body of evidence highlights the many benefits of palliative care for patients with cancer, including reductions in symptom burden, improvements in quality of life and mood, reductions in costs, and even prolonged survival. However, patients with hematologic malignancies are much less likely to access palliative care services than patients with solid tumors, despite growing evidence of many unmet palliative care needs in the hematologic malignancies population. This session will highlight the evidence behind palliative care, and discuss its emerging and rightful role as part of hematological malignancies practice, even in cases where our intent is to cure.

Dr. Thomas LeBlanc will review the evidence about palliative care, and discuss when to refer patients with hematological malignancies to a palliative care specialist.

Dr. Eric Roeland will discuss the role of palliative care specialists in the stem cell transplant setting.

Dr. Tammy Kang will discuss the roll of palliative care specialists in the care of children with hematologic malignancies.