[Palliative measures in lung cancer]

A patient in the final stages of lung cancer primarily needs effective pain management, treatment of symptoms such as coughing, breathing difficulty, fatigue and if necessary, relief through anti-metastasis therapy when a curative therapy is no longer useful. After all best possible medical measures have been employed, the final tasks of the family physician include speaking and listening to the patient, ideally without time pressure, and providing supportive information for the patient and his family.