Hope In Advanced Cancer Is Not An Illusion

The problem of communication with patients is very relevant in oncology. A common attitude is to establish communication rules for "bad news" based on an individualized approach with patients, and on the attempt to understand how much they really wish to know about the true prognostic expectations. The time when a patient with advanced cancer perceives the worsening in his condition, as a consequence of the withdrawal of active treatment, is generally lived by the doctors as a "giving up" of hope. Many studies demonstrated a positive correlation between patients' hope, explained as spiritual wellness, and their quality of life. Therefore, we must take into account that hope belongs to each of us and that in no context doctors are allowed to destroy it with "a priori" evaluation of the negative prognosis of a disease. Eur. J. Oncol., 16 (2), 75-79, 2011