Palliative Care in a referral oncology hospital: Primary Health Care, late diagnoses and mysthanasia

Abstract

This retrospective study analyzed the referrals of 120 cancer patients to a palliative care (PC) team in a public hospital that is a reference in oncology in northern Paraná in February 2020. It was observed that the vast majority of patients (82.5%) arrived at the hospital with advanced disease, while 59.2% were referred to PC in less than six months after entering the service. An important part of the patients arrived with no possibility of specific oncological therapy, and were therefore quickly referred to PC. These and other research data support a discussion between palliative care, primary health care and late cancer diagnosis. The article concludes that in the context of PC, deaths related to late cancer diagnosis, preceded by avoidable suffering due to structural failures in public health policies, are characterized as a problematic form of misthanasia.