Advanced cancer: Quality of life more important than quantity

A tonsil cancer patient (in white shirt) reads a form as his youngest child and wife look on, during a home visit by non-profit cancer organisation Makna in this filepic. A new study reveals that as their cancer progresses, patients place relatively less value on dying at home.

Globally, more than three-quarters of patients with late-stage cancer do not receive hospice or palliative care, with most of these unmet needs concentrated in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

This burden of suffering is particularly alarming in Malaysia because over 63% of cancer patients are diagnosed in advanced stages.