Background: Early palliative care has been shown to improve the quality of life (QOL) and satisfaction with care of patients with advanced cancer, but little is known about its effects on family caregivers. Here we report secondary outcomes of caregiver QOL and satisfaction with care from a cluster-randomized controlled trial of early palliative care. Methods: 461 patients with advanced cancer were recruited from 24 medical oncology clinics at Princess Margaret Cancer Center between December 2006 and February 2011 to participate in a cluster-RCT of early palliative care versus standard care (Zimmermann, C et al. Early palliative care for patients with advanced cancer: a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Lancet 2014;383:1721-30). The primary caregivers identified by these patients were approached for participation if they were ≥ 18 years of age and had sufficient English proficiency. Consenting caregivers (N = 182) completed validated measures at baseline and monthly for 4 months, assessing QOL (Caregiver QOL-Cancer [CQOLC] and Medical Outcomes Study Short Form [SF-36v2]), and satisfaction with care (FAMCARE). A random effect mixed-model was used to evaluate change of QOL and satisfaction with care over time; all analyses were by intention to treat. Results: 182 caregivers completed baseline measures (94 intervention, 88 control); 151 completed at least one follow-up assessment. Over the 4-month period of the study, there was no significant improvement in QOL scores in the intervention group compared to the control group for the CQOLC (p = 0.53), SF-36 physical component summary (p = 0.27), or SF-36 mental component summary (p = 0.58). Satisfaction with care improved significantly in the intervention compared to the control group (p = 0.01). Conclusions: In this study, early palliative care involvement increased caregivers’ satisfaction with care but not their QOL. An intervention tailored specifically for caregivers may be required to have a substantial impact on caregiver QOL. Clinical trial information: NCT01248624