Early integration of palliative care in hematology: an urgency for patients, a challenge for physicians

Introduction: Early integration between palliative care and other medical specialties in the care of patients with serious illnesses is consolidating itself as good medical practice, based on scientific and ethical evidence. Despite this, palliative care is still not part of the routine care of patients with hematological diseases, even in special-ized centers.Objective and method: In this article, we review the benefits and the main barriers described in the literature for early integration of hematology and palliative care. We also point out the challenges encountered in clinical practice, such as end-of-life prognosis assessment in patients with hematological diseases and management of the most common symptoms in hematology. Finally, we review models of integra-tion between palliative care and oncology centers in outpatient and inpatient settings.Results and conclusion: Patients with hematological diseases can greatly benefit from early integration with palliative care, with improvement in symptom control, quality of life, reduction of emotional distress and the development of advanced care directives. It is nec-essary to make hematologists aware of the benefits of palliative care, provide adequate training for multidisciplinary teams and encourage specific studies of palliative care in patients with hematological diseases.(c) 2022 Associacao Brasileira de Hematologia, Hemoterapia e Terapia Celular. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

Early integration of palliative care with hematology can greatly benefit patients, improving symptom control, quality of life, reducing emotional distress, and enabling advanced care directives. However, there are challenges in clinical practice that need to be addressed, including raising awareness among hematologists about the benefits of palliative care and providing adequate training for multidisciplinary teams.