Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 22, 2026

Multidimensional Coculture System to Model Lung Squamous Carcinoma Progression
Published on: March 17, 2020
Illness understanding in patients with advanced lung cancer: curse or blessing?
Annelies Janssens1, Sisca Kohl2, Toke Michielsen3
1Department of Thoracic Oncology, Antwerp University Hospital, 2650 Edegem, Belgium. annelies.janssens@uza.be.
Abstract:
Early palliative care (EPC) should be introduced from the start of the treatment of patients with advanced lung cancer. Unfortunately, this is often not integrated in daily oncologic care. This letter wants to emphasize the importance of offering a holistic approach, meaning EPC to optimize quality of life (QoL). Illness understanding is important because patients with better understanding of their disease choose more often for symptom control and less for an aggressive treatment at the end of life. This illness understanding should be achieved during communication with the treating oncologist. Based on the limited available literature about illness understanding, it seems that an EPC program is necessary when breaking bad news, in order to maintain or improve QoL in patients.
Related Concept Videos
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease-V: Nursing Management
Assessment
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease-III: Symptoms and Complications.
Symptoms of COPD can be classified as primary or systemic. Primary symptoms relate to reduced airflow, while systemic or extrapulmonary symptoms relate to COPD's broader impact on the body.
Primary Symptoms of COPD:
Cancer Survival Analysis
Other Pulmonary Disorders
Nursing Ethical Principles II
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
Initially, Mr. John's...
Pneumonia V: Nursing management and Prevention
The nurse must practice strict medical asepsis and adhere to infection control guidelines to minimize healthcare-associated infections.
Enhance airway patency
Position the patient correctly to facilitate drainage of the affected lung segments. Manual or mechanical percussion and vibration can also be employed....