{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,11]],"date-time":"2026-07-11T20:48:02Z","timestamp":1783802882405,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,19]],"date-time":"2022-10-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1666137600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Current Oncology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Palliative radiotherapy (PRT) is known to be effective in relieving cancer related symptoms. However, many studies and clinical practice show several barriers hindering its use and worsening the quality of patient support during PRT. Various solutions were proposed to overcome these barriers: training on PRT for supportive and palliative care specialists and training on palliative care for radiation oncologists, and introduction of pathways and organizational models specifically dedicated to PRT. Evidence on innovative organizational models and mutual training experiences is few and sparse. Therefore, the aim of this literature review is to present a quick summary of the information available on improving the PRT quality through training, new pathways, and innovative organizational models. The majority of studies on the integration of PRT with other palliative and supportive therapies present low levels of evidence being mostly retrospective analyses. However, it should be emphasized that all reports uniformly showed advantages coming from the integration of PRT with supportive therapies. To actively participate in the integration of PRT and palliative care, providing comprehensive support to the needs of patients with advanced cancer, radiation oncologists should not only plan PRT but also: (i) assess and manage symptoms and stress, (ii) rapidly refer patients to specialists in management of more complex symptoms, and (iii) participate in multidisciplinary palliative care teams. To this end, improved education in palliative care both in residency schools and during professional life through continuous medical education is clearly needed. In particular, effective training is needed for radiotherapy residents to enable them to provide patients with comprehensive palliative care. Therefore, formal teaching of adequate duration, interactive teaching methods, attendance in palliative care services, and education in advanced palliative care should be planned in post-graduated schools of radiotherapy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/curroncol29100627","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,19]],"date-time":"2022-10-19T20:32:23Z","timestamp":1666211543000},"page":"7932-7942","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Improving the Integration between Palliative Radiotherapy and Supportive Care: A Narrative Review"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"29","author":[{"given":"Erica","family":"Scirocco","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiation Oncology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesco","family":"Cellini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"UOC di Radioterapia Oncologica, Dipartimento di Diagnostica per Immagini, Radioterapia Oncologica ed Ematologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario \u201cA. Gemelli\u201d IRCCS, 00185 Roma, Italy"},{"name":"Istituto di Radiologia, Universit\u00e0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00185 Roma, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Costanza Maria","family":"Donati","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiation Oncology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jenny","family":"Capuccini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Palliative Care Unit, AUSL Romagna (Local Health Authority), 48022 Lugo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Romina","family":"Rossi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IRCCS Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori (IRST) \u201cDino Amadori\u201d, 47014 Meldola, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Milly","family":"Buwenge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luigi","family":"Montanari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Palliative Care Unit, AUSL Romagna (Local Health Authority), 48022 Lugo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marco","family":"Maltoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"IRCCS Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori (IRST) \u201cDino Amadori\u201d, 47014 Meldola, Italy"},{"name":"Medical Oncology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9793-3410","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessio Giuseppe","family":"Morganti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiation Oncology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"2641","article-title":"Does distance to treatment centre influence the rate of palliative radiotherapy in adult cancer patients?","volume":"29","author":"Nieder","year":"2009","journal-title":"Anticancer Res."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"533","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijrobp.2009.07.1716","article-title":"Patterns of practice in palliative radiotherapy for painful bone metastases: Impact of a regional rapid access clinic on access to care","volume":"78","author":"Wu","year":"2010","journal-title":"Int. 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