Guideline / position statementindependent cross-checkabstract checked I-CHM-105 standard review
ASCO guideline: palliative care alongside cancer treatment
Integration of Palliative Care Into Standard Oncology Care: American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline Update.
Overview
Ferrell BR et al.. J Clin Oncol 2017 · PMID 28034065 · DOI 10.1200/JCO.2016.70.1474
Patients with advanced cancer should get palliative care early, together with active treatment.
Does the study support the specific claim? Partly · Methodological quality: moderate
Plain-language summary
Study explained simply
- What did the researchers want to find out?
Give guidance on palliative care
- How was the study done?
Guideline based on a systematic review
- How many people, animals or samples were studied?
Trials 2010-2016
- What was actually found?
Early, concurrent palliative care recommended
- How large was the observed effect?
Not applicable
- What do the results mean in everyday life?
Palliative care is an addition to cancer treatment
- What are the study's limitations?
US-based expert panel
- What does it say about Elawady's specific claim?
Supports palliative care; contradicts using it as a reason to refuse treatment
- Do the results apply to Germany and Europe?
Moderate
- What can explicitly not be concluded from this study?
Not a trial
Scientific in-depth review
1. Full reference
- Authors
- Ferrell BR et al.
- Journal
- J Clin Oncol
- Year
- 2017
- Identifier
- PMID 28034065 DOI 10.1200/JCO.2016.70.1474
- Verification
- verified – PubMed efetch 2026-10-26 (PublicationType and CommentsCorrections checked); Crossref 2026-10-26
- Retracted
- no
- Corrections
- none
- Extent checked
- abstract only
- Conflicts of interest and funding
ASCO; COI not stated in abstract.
2. Research question
How should palliative care be integrated into oncology care?
3. Study design and population
- Study design
- Guideline / position statement – Clinical practice guideline update based on a systematic review (ASCO expert panel)
- Population
Patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers
- Country
USA (international applicability)
- Period
Literature March 2010 to January 2016
- Sample size
9 RCTs, 1 quasi-experimental trial, 5 secondary analyses
- Inclusion and exclusion criteria
RCTs, systematic reviews, meta-analyses on palliative care services
4. Methods and endpoints
- Exposure / intervention
Dedicated palliative care services
- Comparator
Usual oncology care
- Endpoints
Recommendations
- Statistical methods
Systematic review and expert consensus
5. Actual results
- Results
Recommendation: inpatients and outpatients with advanced cancer should receive dedicated palliative care services early in the disease course, concurrent with active treatment; referral to interdisciplinary palliative care teams is optimal.
- Absolute risks
not applicable
- Authors' conclusion
Early palliative care, concurrent with active treatment, is recommended for patients with advanced cancer.
6. Strengths
- Systematic review base
- Major professional society
7. Weaknesses
- Partly expert opinion; US health-system focus
8. Risk of bias
- Orienting tool
- none applicable
- Type of assessment
- simplified assessment (abstract only)
- Full formal assessment
- no
- Overall risk of bias
- not assessable
- Rationale
Guideline; quality of underlying evidence varies.
9. Assessment of the statistical interpretation
Not applicable.
10. Relevance to the specific claim
States the accepted position: palliative care is integrated with, not a replacement for, anticancer treatment.
11. Independent contrary findings
None.
12. Transferability to Germany and Europe
Similar positions in European practice (not audited here).
13. Overall methodological judgement
Authoritative recommendation for concurrent early palliative care.
| Multidimensional assessment | |
|---|---|
| Authenticity of the source | verified |
| Methodological quality | moderate |
| Risk of bias | not assessable |
| Precision of results | not applicable |
| Directness | direct |
| Reproducibility | unknown |
| Consistency with the overall evidence | consistent |
| Regional transferability | moderate |
| Adequacy of the interpretation (by the archive) | not applicable |
14. Open questions
None.
15. Linked fact checks
- At the end of life, chemotherapy often does not help, and early palliative care improves quality of life and even survival (Temel 2010). – Studies with mixed or unclear results