Making treatment choices: a physician's discussion of patients' needs.
Medical treatment decisions in early as well as advanced breast cancer follow established guidelines clearly defined by consensus statements, meta-analyses, and evidence-based insights into the biology of the disease, and treatment efficacy. Nevertheless, to treat patients "holistically" while remaining mindful of individual characteristics, physicians must consider patients' concerns regarding the course of their disease, their distress, and, in advanced disease, their knowledge of a limited life expectancy when making treatment choices. Such considerations will contribute to a more satisfactory patient-physician relationship and superior quality of life.
Vienna University Hospital, Department of Medicine and Medical Oncology, Clinical Division of Oncology, Austria.
Christoph C
CC
Zielinski
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011379:Prognosis