Economic Benefits of Palliative Care Consultation Continue to Unfold.

Although much younger than the traditional oncology specialties, the palliative medicine discipline has blossomed to fill the notable void between the delivery of aggressive anticancer therapies and the patient experience of disease and its treatments. Although initial studies of palliative care (PC) interventions yielded mixed results,1 more recent randomized trials have shown improved mood, quality of life, and even improved survival with early PC consultation.2–4 These favorable results have been so consistent and marked that the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has issued a clinical opinion supporting the integration of PC with conventional oncology treatment,5 and as part of the Choosing Wisely Campaign, the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has urged early PC referral in the context of noncurative radiotherapy.6