Palliative care in gynaecological oncology

More than 20,000 new gynaecological malignancies are diagnosed each year. Sadly in many cases the disease is too advanced to be cured and management focuses on prolonging life and palliation of symptoms. Palliative care is a holistic approach to caring for individuals with advanced disease. It is multidisciplinary and aims to improve the overall quality of life for patients and their families. Provision of palliative care is not universal and management of symptoms both physical and psychological has been found to be suboptimal in many settings in the UK and worldwide. The World Health Organisation has targeted palliative care as a clinical priority.This article reviews management of physical symptoms; including pain, psychological and social support, and discusses issues around end of life care.