Symptom control in advanced cancer.

Most important is the physician's attitude, energy, and skill focused toward helping the patient through the difficulties in the last weeks of life. Many causes of nausea, dyspnea, and other troublesome symptoms can be effectively treated, and pharmacologic palliation is nearly always possible. A multidisciplinary team (ie, hospice) can help the physician see the whole picture and needs the physician's input to effectively manage physical, psychosocial, and spiritual components of the situation. The physician who attends to his own physical, psychosocial, and spiritual needs will have the stamina and depth of insight to help his patients through these difficult days. They can then complete their lives in the place of their choosing with the comfort and support needed to finish business, address strained relationships, and open to the mysteries of life and death.