Making palliative care work better for people with metastatic cancer
Determinants of Palliative Care Effectiveness for Patients with Metastatic Cancer
['FUNDING_R37'] · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · NIH-11129108
This project aims to find what helps specialist palliative care give better support and quality of life for people with metastatic cancer.
Quick facts
| Phase | ['FUNDING_R37'] |
|---|---|
| Study type | Nih_funding |
| Sex | All |
| Sponsor | COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES (nih funded) |
| Locations | 1 site (NEW YORK, UNITED STATES) |
| Trial ID | NIH-11129108 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
What this research studies
From a patient's perspective, the team is linking national Medicare records with information about hospital and program palliative care features to see how specialist palliative care is actually used for people with advanced cancer. The investigators built a new national database that combines Medicare claims, program characteristics from the National Palliative Care Registry, and prospectively collected clinical information to track care patterns. That approach lets researchers identify who receives specialist palliative care, when it happens in the course of illness, and which program traits influence delivery. The goal is to find and reduce gaps so more patients get timely, high-quality palliative support.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People with metastatic or other advanced cancers—especially older adults covered by Medicare—are the patient group whose care patterns are being studied and who could be affected by the findings.
Not a fit: People without advanced cancer, younger patients not covered by Medicare, or individuals outside the U.S. may not see direct benefit from this specific work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help more patients with advanced cancer access timely specialist palliative care and improve quality of life near the end of life.
How similar studies have performed: Prior single-center and proxy-based studies have linked specialist palliative care to better end-of-life quality, but this national linked-database approach is newer and aims to overcome past limitations.
Where this research is happening
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES — NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (ACTIVE)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: HUA, MAY — COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- Study coordinator: HUA, MAY
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Conditions: Advanced Cancer, Cancer Center, Cancer Hospital, Cancers