A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on August 19 concluded that the patients with later stage of lung cancer can be enabled to live longer by providing them palliative care that involves practices such as pain management and counseling services.

Palliative care is a blend of emotional and spiritual practices that alleviates the suffering of the patient by empathizing with its emotional self with the participation of the family and other individuals, such as doctors, nurses, social workers, and chaplains.

The study was carried out for a period of three years on the patients suffering from non-small-cell lung cancer and receiving palliative care along with other cancer treatment. Such patients lived two months more than those who didn't take palliative care and had improved the quality of life. Also, those treated with palliative practices were 50% less likely to develop the symptoms of depression as compared to others. They were also less inclined towards adopting ineffective measures to extend their lives.

Jennifer S. Temel, MD, an oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center in Boston, said, "Cancer care and palliative care are not mutually exclusive. Providing both is not only feasible, but beneficial".

She added that they don't have enough data to support the findings, but palliative practices are also favorable for a number of other disorders.

The palliative care provides psychological comfort that makes patients bear the treatments in a better way, as stated by Mark Kris, MD, Chief of thoracic oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.