Surgical oncologists encounter patients at many different phases of illness, and palliative interventions can be beneficial at multiple of these. For patients who can be classified as “chronically ill,” palliative care can include symptom management – such as pain, nausea, loss of appetite, and fatigue. It can also include advance care planning, completing an advance directive, or identifying a surrogate decision-maker. For patients who are chronically ill and experience an “acute event,” a palliative approach often includes effectively delivering serious news and making a goal-concordant plan of care. Some of these acute events in surgical oncology could include the discussion of surgery itself or the disease progression manifested as malignant obstruction or ascites. Lastly, some patients may be characterized as “end of life” and dying. These patients can benefit from a recognition that time is short, considering a transition to hospice care, or anticipatory guidance about end of life with the patient or their family.