title: "Doctor, what are my chances"?
abstract: There can be no more difficult consultation than one in which the clinician has to explain a diagnosis of cancer and provide information on likely outcomes. The considerable skills in communication that are necessary are not usually part of medical training and the generalisations of the textbooks are of little value.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Westmead Hospital, New South Wales.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Langlands
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003657:Decision Making; D005194:Family Practice / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011379:Prognosis; D014342:Truth Disclosure