Multidisciplinary approaches to palliative oncology care

There are an estimated 12.7 million cancer cases worldwide annually (1), with the global cancer burden continuing to increase each year and projected to reach to 22.2 million cases by 2030 (2,3). Cancer remains the leading cause of death in economically developed countries and the second leading cause of death in developing countries, with an estimated 7.6 million cancer deaths each year (1). Palliative care should ideally play a prominent role in these patients and others with advanced malignancies to reduce pain and suffering, promote quality of life, allow death with dignity, and support patient families and caregivers (4).