Besides dealing with their illness, life for cancer patients is mostly uphill. Fatigue is a common symptom that cannot be seen, but is felt quite acutely by patients. Family members are not always capable of understanding just how tiring cancer treatment is. Patients returning to work often feel 'very small', because colleagues begin treating them as if they are no longer capable of fulfilling all of their responsibilities.

"For a woman, breast cancer poses the most difficult emotional burden. Many women go to the operating table not knowing whether just the tumour or the entire breast will be removed. Having a mastectomy at 40-50 years of age, when your body structure has changed, is cruel and very hard to accept," emphasised Sylvia.

She notes that some patients risk losing even their partner if he/she cannot support the changes and consequences of the disease. "Your priorities completely change when you are faced with a life-threatening disease, like cancer," Sylvia says.

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Contact: Gracemarie Bricalli
gracemarie@esmo.org
0041-91-973-1911
European Society for Medical Oncology
19-Oct-2002