Kavita Dharmarajan on Radiation Oncology and Palliative Care

Kavita Dharmarajan, MD, MSc, assistant professor of radiation oncology and palliative medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, discusses the benefits of pairing radiation oncology and palliative care.

In a study evaluating 336 patients with stage IV cancer receiving radiation for symptomatic bone metastases, 161 received a combination of palliative care and radiation therapy. The remaining 175 patients received standard care.

Dharmarajan found that patients treated under the new model were more likely to finish their therapy, have a condensed course of treatment, and be discharged from the hospital an average of 6 days earlier.

Read more about this study:

http://www.curetoday.com/articles/pairing-radiation-oncology-and-palliative-care-leads-to-better-outcomes