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What is palliative care?

Care aimed at how you feel: pain, sickness, tiredness, breathlessness. It covers the practical and emotional side too, for you and for the people around you.

You can have it at any stage, including while you are having treatment meant to cure you. It is not only for the end of life.

Written by two physicians. Checked against patient information from the US National Cancer Institute and Cancer Research UK.

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Content last updated 25 September 2026 · How we write these cards · Report a problem with this card

These cards are for learning. They are not medical advice and do not replace talking with your own doctor.