Original Article Symptom Control Trials in Patients With Advanced Cancer:

ty o y of ced cancer describe multiple symptoms including pain, fatigue, nausea, and breathlessness.1 The fact that inci-need to improve the care of patients with life-642 Journal of Pain and Symptom Management Vol. 50 No. 5 November 2015dence and prevalence levels remain high indicates that these symptoms are not always optimally managed. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of an evidence base for the treatment of symptoms. Conducting research in these patients has tradition-ally been regarded as challenging because of ethical, limiting illness through robust, meaningful, and appropriate research.2,3 There is an intrinsic resistance from health profes-sionals, including those in palliative care, to encourage patients to participate in palliative care research, espe-cially clinical trials, with paternalistic assumption