The hospice movement: an oncologist's viewpoint.

In this broad survey, we have touched on the recent creation of special facilities for patients with advanced cancer and their relevance to the overall program of cancer control. Also discussed were a number of ethical dilemmas arising from our efforts to provide improved care for the social and emotional problems afflicting our patients. When all is said and done, however, all our efforts are designed to alleviate human suffering. There may not be such a large gap between basic cancer research, medical oncology, and the hospice movement as has sometimes been perceived.