Palliative Care of the Patient with Advanced, Recurrent and Metastatic Cervical Cancer: An Institutional Study

Introduction: Cancer of the female genital tract especially cervical cancer is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. When potentially curative treatment options are unavailable or have proven ineffective, the clinical goal changes from cure to palliation. Methodology: Retrospectively, 60 female patients were included in the study requiring palliative treatment for various symptoms. Results: All patients were classified based on the symptoms they presented with, requiring palliative treatment. Most patients presented with Pain, some form of metabolic derangement and GI symptoms needing attention. Bleeding, edemas were among the few other symptoms while fistulas, venous thrombosis and pulmonary complications were the least common ones. Conclusion: Though Ca Cervix is vastly considered a curable disease now a days, palliative care still forms one of the most important arenas of the cancer management. The aim being improvement in the quality of life of the patients with treatment failures or advanced disease.