Bisht, M: Palliative drug therapy

Cancer at present is a major global problem. Majority of patients suffer to advanced stage that unfortunately is not responsive to curative treatment. Hence palliative care is needed in most of the cancer patients. n developing countries, the proportion requiring palliative care is nearly almost 80%. The goal of the palliative care must be to provide best possible quality of life for the patient and his family. Nearly 75% of patients with advanced cancer experience pain, very often in conjuction with many other symptoms like anorexia, dyspnea, nausea or vomiting, depression, malnutrition, dry mouth, anxiety, skin problems and sleeplessness. For such patients, the only available management is palliative care, which focuses primarily on pain relief. This study was done to define the role of palliative drug therapy in advanced cancer patients. As cancer chemotherapy is marching ahead with rapid advancement, further epidemiological research in palliative care is warranted with larger number of patients.