Impact of early vs late palliative care referrals on healthcare utilization in patients with pancreatic cancer

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of early versus late palliative care referral (PCR) following pancreatic cancer diagnosis.Methods Patients diagnosed with PDAC who received a PCR between 2014 and 2020 at a major academic institution were identified. PCR was classified as early (< 30 days) or late (& GE; 30 days) based on time from definitive diagnosis. Data were obtained on number of emergency department (ED) visits, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and hospital admissions.Results Among 1458 patients with PDAC, 419 (28.7%) received PCR, among which 67.3% (n = 282) received a late PCR. Of those who received PCR, the majority were White (85%) and male (54.8%), with a median age of 62 years at time of diagnosis. Patients who received an early PCR more commonly presented with stage 4 disease at diagnosis (early: n = 91, 69% vs. late: n = 132, 47%), whereas patients who received a late PCR more commonly presented with stage 1, 2, or 3 disease (early: n = 40, 30.5% vs. late: n = 150, 53.2%) (p < 0.001). Patients who received early PCR had fewer median ED visits (1 vs. 2, p < 0.001) and hospital admissions (1 vs. 2, p < 0.001) compared with patients who received late PCR. However, after performing recurrent-event Cox-proportional hazards models, the timing of PCR did not impact hospital admission (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.68, 1.14; p = 0.3).Conclusion Timing of PCR for patients with PDAC was not associated with healthcare utilization. Further prospective trials are needed to study the patient-centered impact of early integration of palliative care services into multidisciplinary pancreatic cancer teams.