Abstract Background: Palliative care (PC) improves quality of life for patients with life-threatening illnesses. Despite global efforts, PC access remains limited. This study evaluated the 10-year trends of PC coverage and its impact on survival among advanced cancer patients at a tertiary medical center in Taiwan. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 6096 hospitalized Stage IV cancer patients who died or were critically discharged between 2010 and 2020. Patients were categorized into PC and non-PC groups. Survival outcomes were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier curves and log-rank tests. Results: Of the cohort, 2792 patients received PC, and 3304 did not. PC recipients were older and had more comorbidities. The PC coverage rate increased annually over the decade. Patients receiving PC showed significantly better overall survival compared to those without PC, particularly in colon, esophageal, liver, lung, oral, prostate, and upper gastrointestinal cancers ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: PC integration steadily improved over 10 years and was associated with survival benefits in several cancer types. These findings support early PC incorporation into oncology practice, though heterogeneity across malignancies warrants further investigation.
Lee et al. (Tue,) studied this question.