Evaluating the Time to Palliative Care Referrals in Patients With Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Single-Centre Retrospective Review

Introduction:Lung cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Patients with lung cancer may experience a plethora of symptoms, which can be debilitating and affect their quality of life. Palliative care input to manage their physical and psychological well-being is a crucial component of their oncological care. The benefit of early palliative care input has been shown in patients with non-small cell lung cancer; however, data pertaining to patients with small-cell lung cancer are scarce. Nevertheless, early palliative care input is recommended by several national and international guidelines. Thus, we aimed to assess the time to palliative care referrals in patients diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer in an Irish tertiary hospital and to determine what impact this had on overall survival.Methods:We performed a retrospective, single-center audit of all patients diagnosed with extensive stage small-cell lung cancer over a 6-year period in an Irish tertiary hospital.Results:Overall, 91 ...