Accompanying from a distance: Telemedicine in palliative care for cancer patients

Campos-Perez A.W.; Beltrán B.E.; Vela-Ruiz J.M.; Desposorio-Robles J. · Revista Venezolana de Oncologia (2025)

Resumen

OBJECTIVE: The cancer, one of the leading causes of mortality with 10 million deaths in 2020, and presents challenges in its advanced stages. The palliative care is essential to improve the quality of life of these patients, focusing on the pain management and providing the emotional support. The Telemedicine emerges as an innovation to facilitate this care, although questions remain about its clinical impact and safety in complex cases. Research has shown benefits, but further study is needed to regarding its effectiveness in the advanced disease. This review aims to analyze telemedicine in palliative cancer care and guide future research. METHOD: The search was conducted in reputable databases such as PubMed, Scopus, SpringerLink, BMJ Journals, SciELO, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, we using key terms such as “Telemedicine,” “Palliative Care,” and “Cancer.” RESULTS: The bibliographic review initially identified 453 articles across various databases. Of these, only 314 articles were pre-selected for further evaluation. After an initial title screening, 280 articles were excluded, and 9 additional articles were removed due to duplication. The finally, 25 articles were selected for detailed analysis, of which 18 provided relevant research findings and theoretical conceptual information aligned with the study’s objective. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the importance and the benefits of the telemedicine in palliative care for cancer patients, emphasizing its role in improving accessibility and communication in medical care, and in enhancing the quality of life for these patients.

Instituciones: Universidad Ricardo Palma; Universidad de Lima