# IPOS Standard of Quality Cancer Care

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/ipos-standard-quality-cancer-care/  
OnCo record `ipos-standard-quality-cancer-care` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

An international standard that says emotional and social support is part of good cancer care, and that your distress should be checked as routinely as your blood pressure.

## Summary

The International Psycho-Oncology Society's standard, dated July 2010 and revised October 2014, makes three statements: psychosocial cancer care should be recognised as a universal human right; quality cancer care must integrate the psychosocial domain into routine care; and distress should be measured as the sixth vital sign after temperature, blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate and pain. IPOS asks individuals and cancer organisations to endorse it, describing it as guidelines put forward with the Union for International Cancer Control, and publishes lists of those who have endorsed it. For a patient it is a reason to expect to be asked about distress and to ask for support if nobody does.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: IPOS International Standard of Quality Cancer Care; Distress as the sixth vital sign

## Sources

- IPOS Standard of Quality Cancer Care: https://ipos-society.org/about/quality

## Connected records

- technologies: [Psycho-oncology and distress screening](https://onco.cc/technologies/psycho-oncology/)
- institutions: [International Psycho-Oncology Society](https://onco.cc/institutions/ipos/), [Union for International Cancer Control](https://onco.cc/institutions/uicc/)

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