Palliative care is a range of treatments and techniques that can ease pain and other symptoms of serious illnesses, including metastatic colorectal cancer. It can also relieve treatment side effects. Plus, palliative care can provide support for mental health, spiritual concerns, caregiver needs, and other challenges. Think of it as an extra layer of care, which you can get whether the cancer is curable or not.

End-of-life hospice care and palliative care both aim to maximize your quality of life with metastatic colorectal cancer. But there’s a key difference. Hospice care is only for people who are going through the final phase of an illness or are close to death. Palliative care is available at any time, including once you’re diagnosed with cancer, during your treatments, and after you finish treatment.

Palliative care can help you live as well as you can for as long as possible with metastatic colorectal cancer. Treatments offered include palliative chemotherapy, which can relieve cancer symptoms. It also can slow the spread of the disease. As a result, you may have less pain, bleeding, and blockages — and live longer. Palliative care also can ease treatment side effects like constipation, diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, and rashes.

Living with metastatic colorectal cancer can tax your mental health in many ways. Conditions like anxiety and depression and concerns like anger, body image fears, and relationship strain are just some of the issues you might face. But many palliative care teams include psychologists who treat people with cancer. They offer treatments that could help you feel better, like talk therapy and medication.

If you’re spiritual or religious, know that some palliative care teams include a spiritual advisor or a religious leader (like a chaplain or rabbi). You can also ask a member of your cancer treatment team to refer you to one. Research shows that a person’s beliefs play a key role in their decisions about their health care. Getting strength from (or tackling concerns and questions about) your beliefs may help ease anxiety and depression, too.

Getting cancer treatment can be stressful as is. And you might have the added stress of managing your employer’s expectations or dealing with medical billing and health insurance issues. You can ask your palliative care team for help with matters like these. You can also get assistance filling out legal documents like advance directives, which state your wishes about receiving medical care if some day you’re not able to do so.

Palliative care can help your loved ones and any caregivers, who may at times feel overwhelmed by extra responsibilities, exhaustion, or powerful emotions about your health. But palliative care specialists can show your loved ones how to manage these challenges. They can also support the needs of any caregivers you have. This kind of support is linked to more satisfaction for people with serious health conditions and their caregivers.

If you’re thinking about getting palliative care, let your cancer treatment team know. Usually, they can start giving you this care and refer you to palliative care specialists at your treatment center. If your center doesn’t offer palliative services, ask for a referral to an agency that does. And if your treatment team doesn’t provide palliative care, look for resources through groups like the American Cancer Society and GetPalliativeCare.org