Palliative Care in Improving Quality of Life in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Pancreatic Cancer

Overview

This pilot clinical trial studies a palliative care program in improving the quality of life of patients with newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer. Palliative care is care given to patients who have a serious or life-threatening disease, and focuses on managing disease symptoms, side effects of treatment or the disease, and improving patient quality of life. Studying a palliative care program used for other types of cancer may help doctors learn whether it can improve the quality of life of patients with pancreatic cancer.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To pilot-test an interdisciplinary Palliative Care Planning Intervention (PCPI) in pancreatic cancer. Specifically, to describe patients' satisfaction with the timing, content, and delivery of the PCPI intervention. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To pilot-test all selected measures for the study, including measures for healthcare resource utilization, overall cost, and patient/family out of pocket expenses. II. The long-term objective of this pilot study is to conduct a larger PCPI intervention study for pancreatic cancer patients and evaluate its impact on quality of life (QOL), symptom intensity, healthcare resource utilization, and healthcare costs. OUTLINE: Patients receive a handbook titled "Supporting You During Cancer Treatment" with educational material on QOL issues. Patients undergo 2 education sessions on handbook material in-person or by telephone, with session 1 focusing on physical and social well-being issues and session 2 focusing on psychological and spiritual well-being issues. At the beginning of each session, patients select 3 priority topics from a list, and content is tailored to patient needs. After completion of study, patients are followed up at 1 and 2 months.