The family physician and confrontation in alcoholism

Identification of alcoholism may be crucial for ensuring the most appropriate treatment for patients suffering with cancer. In this setting, the family physician can best provide the leadership in coordinating the critical resources necessary for successful treatment by utilizing the family, the minister, the employer, and most important, alcoholism counselors and Alcoholics Anonymous. To avoid a realistic assessment of alcoholism in a cancer patient will only perpetuate individual sorrow and suffering. The physician may win the battle against cancer, but the war can be lost by the self-destruction resulting from alcoholism.