Palliative treatment helps to improve people’s quality of life by managing the symptoms of cancer without trying to cure the disease. It is best thought of as part of supportive care. Many people think that palliative treatment is for people at the end of life, but it may help at any stage of advanced stomach cancer. It is about helping you live for as long as possible in the most satisfying way you can.
The treatment you are offered will be tailored to your individual needs, and may include surgery, stenting, 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.
Palliative treatment is one aspect of palliative care, in which a team of health professionals help meet your physical, emotional, cultural, spiritual and social needs. The team also supports families and carers.
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; Kieran Cahill, Consumer; Jessica Jong, Clinical Dietitian, Upper GI and Hepatobiliary Services, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; John Leung, Consumer; Prof Rajvinder Singh, Professor of Medicine, University of Adelaide, and Director, Gastroenterology Department and Head of Endoscopy, Lyell McEwin Hospital, SA; Dr Sarah Sutherland, Medical Oncologist, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, NSW; Paula Swannock, Upper GI Cancer Nurse Consultant, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, VIC; Rebecca Yeoh, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council Queensland.
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