Complementary palliative care for head & neck cancer: A review

Abstract

When the oral cancer is too advanced to be cured, maintaining patient's quality of life (QoL) is the primary goal of treatment. Palliative treatments play an even larger role to ease symptoms from the cancer treatment itself. The palliative treatment helps to keep the cancer patient comfortable and maintain QoL for many days as possible. Historically, palliative care was intended to relieve pain and discomfort for the dying ones where as recently it is considered as an integral part of cancer care since cancer patients are living longer. Non-pharmacological therapies such as complementary and alternative medicine have a developing role in the management of cancer and cancer-related symptoms. Integration of non-pharmacological therapies within traditional medical practice creates a comprehensive framework for managing symptoms, reducing suffering, and improving QoL. It incorporates the principles of patient centered, family systems-oriented care. The domains of care addressed by palliative care include physical, cultural, psychological, social, spiritual, legal, and ethical. This review briefly explains the different methods of non-pharmacological palliative care for head and neck cancer patients.