# Specialist Palliative Care in Surgical Oncology

> **NIH NIH K76** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $242,995

## Abstract

Early Specialist Palliative Care in Surgical Oncology
Abstract
 For elderly patients, care at the end of life (EOL) is often fragmented, expensive, needlessly
aggressive, and insufficient to provide comfort and dignity. Expert palliative care consultation is one strategy to
improve EOL care. Involvement of palliative care providers has also been shown to improve clinical and
patient-reported outcomes when initiated early in the course of treatment for life-threatening diseases,
especially cancer. However, the utility of early palliative care is not well studied in older adults undergoing
surgery for cancer. There is a driving unmet need to improve outcomes of patients undergoing surgery for
cancer while improving EOL care for those who ultimately succumb to their disease. Early palliative care
consultation is a promising strategy to meet this need.
 The Surgery for Cancer with Option of Palliative Care Expert (SCOPE) Trial will begin to answer
the question of whether patients undergoing surgery for cancer will benefit from early palliative care.
SCOPE is a randomized controlled trial enrolling 236 patients undergoing resections for malignancies with
particularly poor prognoses. In the intervention arm, patients receive a pre-operative consultation with a
palliative care provider along with continued inpatient and outpatient palliative care follow-up post-operatively.
Control arm patients will receive usual care. The Specific Aims of the SCOPE Trial are to determine: 1)
whether the intervention improves physical and functional quality of life at 90 days; 2) whether intervention
patients have improved recovery from surgery, cancer survivorship, and end of life care; and 3) whether the
intervention patients perceive their care and needs differently.
 The SCOPE Trial forms part of the career development plan of Dr. Myrick Shinall to mature into an
independent researcher of the benefit of palliative care interventions for surgical patients with serious age-
related conditions. The SCOPE Trial will provide a platform for Dr. Shinall to launch larger, more intensive
investigations of palliative care in older surgical populations. While conducting the trial, Dr. Shinall will also
undertake training in epidemiology, qualitative research methods, aging research, and leadership. He will
additionally benefit from the guidance of his primary mentor, Dr. E. Wesley Ely, who has maintained
independent federal funding for 15 years and has mentored several young investigators to independence in the
process. The combination of didactic training, Dr. Ely’s mentorship, and experience gained from conducting
the SCOPE trial will allow Dr. Shinall to develop into an independent investigator of palliative care interventions
in surgical patients with serious age-related conditions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10045278
- **Project number:** 1K76AG068436-01
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Myrick C Shinall
- **Activity code:** K76 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $242,995
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-15 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10045278

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10045278, Specialist Palliative Care in Surgical Oncology (1K76AG068436-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10045278. Licensed CC0.

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