Palliative care (PC) is an area of medicine that focuses on symptom control and quality of life of patients with life-limiting illnesses and their families. PC can be provided at any point in the cancer experience, even alongside cancer treatments. PC can improve symptoms and quality of life, but the effectiveness of PC is limited by the treatments available. While new cancer treatments have improved survival dramatically in the past 20 years, PC treatments are less effective and have changed little in the past 30 years. We formed the Pan-Canadian Palliative Care Research Collaborative (PCPCRC) to advance knowledge and better meet the needs of advanced cancer patients and families. We propose to build a national research “platform” to conduct clinical trials that evaluate novel and promising symptomatic treatments. We will focus on psychological distress in this proposal because our people affected by cancer (PABC) partners identified this as a high priority area. 1. Develop the platform: We will establish 10 platform centres (“hubs”) across Canada that will enroll patients and caregivers into the platform. Enrolled participants can then choose which randomized control trial (RCTs) they wish to participate in. 2. Gather data: we will collect data that is meaningful to patients and caregivers to assess psychological distress and the impact of each intervention during their illness and into grief and bereavement. 3. Support and train: we will support and mentor trainees, researchers, staff, and PABC partners about clinical trials and impactful partner engagement. If successful, this platform will allow us to perform research on any symptom associated with advanced cancer (e.g. pain, shortness of breath), and to rapidly disseminate and implement new treatments that are found to be effective. We will get results and transform practice more quickly, so we can improve the quality of life of patients and families living with advanced cancer.
