Among patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer, early palliative care led to significant improvements in both quality of life and mood. As compared with patients receiving standard care, patients receiving early palliative care had less aggressive care at the end of life but longer survival. (Funded by an American Society of Clinical Oncology Career Development Award and philanthropic gifts; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01038271.)

Purpose We evaluated the impact of early integrated palliative care (PC) in patients with newly diagnosed lung and GI cancer. Patients and Methods We randomly assigned patients with newly diagnosed incurable lung or noncolorectal GI cancer to receive either early integrated PC and oncology care (n = 175) or usual care (n = 175) between May 2011 and July 2015. Patients who were assigned to the intervention met with a PC clinician at least once per month until death, whereas those who received usual care consulted a PC clinician upon request. The primary end point was change in quality of life (QOL) from baseline to week 12, per scoring by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General scale. Secondary end points included change in QOL from baseline to week 24, change in depression per the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and differences in end-of-life communication. Results Intervention patients ( v usual care) reported greater improvement in QOL from baseline to week 24 (1.59 v −3.40; P = .010) but not week 12 (0.39 v −1.13; P = .339). Intervention patients also reported lower depression at week 24, controlling for baseline scores (adjusted mean difference, −1.17; 95% CI, −2.33 to −0.01; P = .048). Intervention effects varied by cancer type, such that intervention patients with lung cancer reported improvements in QOL and depression at 12 and 24 weeks, whereas usual care patients with lung cancer reported deterioration. Patients with GI cancers in both study groups reported improvements in QOL and mood by week 12. Intervention patients versus usual care patients were more likely to discuss their wishes with their oncologist if they were dying (30.2% v 14.5%; P = .004). Conclusion For patients with newly diagnosed incurable cancers, early integrated PC improved QOL and other salient outcomes, with differential effects by cancer type. Early integrated PC may be most effective if targeted to the specific needs of each patient population.

Purpose Patients' understanding of their illness is key for making informed treatment decisions, yet studies suggest an association between prognostic awareness and worse quality of life (QOL) and mood among patients with advanced cancer. We sought to explore the relationships among prognostic awareness, coping, QOL, and mood in patients with newly diagnosed, incurable cancer. Methods We assessed patients' self-reported health status and treatment goal (Prognosis and Treatment Perceptions Questionnaire), coping (Brief COPE), QOL (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General), and mood (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) within 8 weeks of incurable lung or GI cancer diagnosis. We used linear regression to examine associations and interaction effects among patients' health status and treatment goal, coping strategies, QOL, and mood. Results Patients who reported a terminally ill health status had worse QOL (unstandardized coefficient [B] = -6.88; P < .001), depression (B = 1.60; P < .001), and anxiety (B = 1.17; P = .007). Patients who reported their oncologist's treatment goal was "to cure my cancer" had better QOL (B = 4.33; P = .03) and less anxiety (B = -1.39; P = .007). We observed interaction effects between self-reported health status and treatment goal and certain coping strategies. Specifically, subgroup analyses showed that greater use of positive reframing was related to better QOL (B = 2.61; P < .001) and less depression (B = -0.78; P < .001) among patients who reported a terminally ill health status. Active coping was associated with better QOL (B = 3.50; P < .001) and less depression (B = -1.01; P < .001) among patients who acknowledged their oncologist's treatment goal was not "to cure my cancer." Conclusion Prognostic awareness is related to worse QOL and mood in patients with newly diagnosed, incurable cancer; however, the use of certain coping strategies may buffer these relationships. Interventions to improve patients' prognostic awareness should seek to cultivate more adaptive coping strategies in order to enhance QOL and mood.

This article reports a single‐center randomized clinical trial that evaluated the effect of early integrated specialty palliative care on patient‐ and caregiver‐reported outcomes in patients with newly‐diagnosed, incurable cancers. It was hypothesized that caregivers of patients assigned to early integrated palliative care would report lower psychological distress and better quality of life compared with caregivers of patients assigned to usual oncology care.