Palliative Care For Ovarian Cancer
- Palliative care is done to manage side effects and discomfort a patient might be experiencing
- If there are signs that an ovarian cancer patient’s disease has returned, palliative care is often started immediately
- Palliative care can be done alongside other treatments and therapies
Palliative care is an important step in ovarian cancer treatment, as it focuses on treating pain patients might be having as well as side effects such as constipation, nausea, vomiting, and difficulty breathing. Oftentimes, this is done alongside other treatments patients are going through.
Read More “We do treat ovarian cancer much like a chronic disease, and a lot of our patients end up on therapy for a long time — so palliative care is very important with regards to ovarian cancer,” Dr. Fauci says. “Often, for the last few years of their life, they’re going to be on and off different forms of chemotherapy and treatment.” Dr. Fauci says that it’s recommended that palliative is started immediately once there are signs that ovarian cancer has reoccured in order to make other treatments an easier transition for the patient or if therapies stop. “While palliative care or what’s known as ‘best supportive care’ can be combined with other therapies, a lot of times, it’s focused around the end of life, after a lot of cancer treatment has stopped.”
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