The announcement of the diagnosis of bronchial carcinoma

Although the teaching of communication techniques have begun, albeit slowly, in the schools of medicine, the announcement of bad news remains one of the hardest moment in medical practice. For the physician, whose primary mission is to bring relief, knowing that he may cause psychological distress is a difficult task, especially when considering that the limited therapeutic choices make it impossible for him to promise hope for recovery. This article aims to offer the clinician a pragmatic help for the announcement of the diagnosis of bronchial carcinoma by drawing on recent data in the literature. The data enable improvement of the recommendations issued from more fundamental knowledge relative to the transmission of information and the main emotional and adaptive reactions of the patient. Thus, the announcement can be better adapted to each patient, his expectations and his abilities. (C) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits reserves.