Talking to patients about cancer

Abstract

In 1961, a landmark paper by Oken showed that 90% of surgeons in the United States would not routinely discuss a diagnosis of cancer with their patients.2 However, several studies subsequently showed that a growing proportion of cancer patients wanted to know their diagnosis. The proportion of patients wanting to know has varied in different studies, depending on the locale and the sample (Northouse has done an excellent overview3, but has often been in excess of 90%.