Palliative Care and Mainstream Medicine: An Overdue Collaboration.

During the early stages of a serious illness, treatment is generally aggressive and the major goal of treatment is cure. As the illness progresses, the burdens of traditional medical therapies may begin to outweigh their benefits. The patient and/or physician may then emphasize different treatment goals. The transition period from traditional curative care to palliative care can be one of the most difficult phases of caring for patients with life-limiting illnesses. Nevertheless, when cure is not possible, treatment goals appropriately change from emphasizing life prolongation to emphasizing symptom control and quality of life. With this palliative care approach, patients may remain as comfortable as possible throughout the entire illness trajectory.