Palliative chemotherapy in cancer patients

Palliative chemotherapy is applied for incurable cancer patients to prolong their survival, decrease their cancer-related symptoms, and improve their quality of life. These are important end points in clinical trials of palliative chemotherapy. A lot of clinical studies have demonstrated the palliative effect of chemotherapy for incurable cancers such as advanced pancreatic cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and so on. On the other hand, treatment with anti-cancer drugs can be harmful, and sometimes the toxicities may be very severe leading to worsened quality of life and shortened survival. So, we must carefully consider the application of palliative chemotherapy and discuss it with patients.