Palliative Care in Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Significant symptoms and suffering related to castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) are associated with the disease and its treatment. Increasingly, with advances in treatment efficacy, men can live with symptoms for long periods. Interdisciplinary palliative care teams (including physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, pharmacists, psychologists, physical therapists, and nutritionists) focused on symptom management and patients' goals of care can collaborate with prostate cancer surgeons, oncologists, and radiation oncologists to provide the best care for men at all stages of treatment, including end of life. This article reviews the benefits of palliative care in helping patients with CRPC manage symptoms and distress.