Many people think that palliative care is for people at the end of life, but it can help at any stage of advanced stomach cancer. It helps to improve people’s quality of life by managing the symptoms of cancer without trying to cure the disease.
The treatment you are offered will be tailored to your individual needs. It may include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or other medicines. These treatments can help manage symptoms such as pain, bleeding, difficulty swallowing and nausea. They can also slow the spread of the cancer.
For more on this, see Palliative care or Living with advanced cancer.
→ READ MORE: Managing side effects of stomach cancer
Video: What is palliative care?
Watch this video to see how palliative treatment aims to manage symptoms and improve people’s quality of life without trying to cure the disease.
Podcast: Treatment Options for Advanced Cancer
Listen to more of our podcast for people affected by advanced cancer
More resources
Prof David I Watson, Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor of Surgery, Flinders University, and Senior Consultant Surgeon, Oesophago-Gastric Surgery Unit, Flinders Medical Centre, SA; Prof Bryan Burmeister, Senior Radiation Oncologist, GenesisCare Fraser Coast and Hervey Bay Hospital, QLD; Dr Natalie Collier, Radiation Oncologist, Wollongong Hospital, NSW; A/Prof Melissa Eastgate, A/Executive Director, Cancer Care Services, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, QLD; Brett Hall, Consumer; Natalie Lalor, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council Victoria; Chris Menzies, Upper GI Cancer Nurse Consultant, Flinders Medical Centre and Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, SA; Stefanie Simnadis, Clinical Dietitian, St John of God Subiaco Hospital, WA; Prof Rajvinder Singh, Professor of Medicine, University of Adelaide, and Director, Gastroenterology Department and Head of Endoscopy, Lyell McEwin Hospital, SA.
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