title: [The second opinion in oncology].
abstract: The medical second opinion (MSO) means the process through which it is possible to consult any available medical institution or a single physician, to compare, confirm and/or review a first diagnosis and/or a proposed treatment. The MSO is of the utmost importance when patients are suffering serious and disabling diseases or when risking their lives. Oncology is a really complex discipline in which, daily, doctors and patients have to deal with new clinical, managerial and sociological problems. Most patients are now better informed-often having gathered information from the Web, newspapers, magazines.This information is often very mixed and confusing and the number of MSO is increasing.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cifaldi
authors.forename: Viviana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Felicetti
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cristina
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008408:Mastectomy; D019300:Medical Errors; D008495:Medical Oncology; D009042:Motivation; D010166:Palliative Care; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies