Prognosis terminal: truth-telling in the context of end-of-life care

Informal Caregivers of Palliative Oncohematologic Patients

Informal caregivers are crucial members of the teams that care for palliative patients with cancer, including those with oncohematological malignancies. Publications concerning specific aspects of this latter group of carers are limited. This literature review indicates that palliative oncohematologic patients’ caregivers do not differ from those of patients with solid tumors in ethical and related problems. However, there are specific problems for the former group with regard to negotiating the curative system, which are experienced as distressing, often without support from the health system and without offers of the possibility of being referred to palliative teams that they would have valued as very positive. Although this tendency seems to be changing, there is still considerable work to be done to improve the role of these carers.

Considering patients' mental capacity when giving them bad news may help their well-being: a case of suicide attempt after being informed of lung cancer diagnosis

Mental capacity is a central determinant of patients' ability to make autonomous decisions about their care and deal with bad news. Physicians should be cognizant of this when giving patients bad news in efforts to help them to cope with the illness and to avoid a deterioration of their mental well-being. To show the importance of this concept, a case of suicide attempt with lung cancer is exemplified. A 76-year-old woman attempted suicide after receiving a diagnosis of lung cancer. Her recent life had been emotionally turbulent and she did not have sufficient mental capacity to accept and cope with this truth. She developed depression before attempting suicide.