Dual Frontiers Cancer and Palliative Care.

The World Health Organization's definition of palliative care emphasizes its role as a quality-of-life-enhancing intervention for patients and families experiencing life-threatening illnesses, recommending its early implementation alongside curative therapies. This paradigm shift represents a fundamental evolution from traditional end-of-life care models to the proactive integration of palliative care throughout the cancer continuum. This paper examines the current evidence base for integrating early palliative care, analyzes key implementation barriers across diverse health care settings, and proposes evidence-based strategies. Furthermore, it explores innovative care delivery models, discusses the development of quality metrics for integrated care, and outlines future research priorities.