[Stakes, aims and specificities of the physician-patient communication in cancer care: state of the art and perspectives]

Abstract

The physician-patient relationship has three main stakes : creating a high-quality inter-personal relationship, exchanging information and decision-making. The achievement of these stakes implies that the physician and the patient are able to reach specific communicational objectives. The aim of this paper is to review the characteristics of care as regards cancer patients that could prevent the physician from reaching these stakes and objectives. Moreover, two future perspectives in this field are exposed : the study of factors that influence the communication process when a cancer patient is accompanied by one of his or her relative in a medical interview and the study of personal characteristics of physicians that can predict their ability to communicate in cancer care. On the basis of this triple review, proposals aimed to improve physician-patient communication in cancer care are exposed.