Surgeon-Patient Communication in the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

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Abstract
THE SURGEON plays a central role in the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of patients with resectable malignant solid tumors. Although professionals from many disciplines will participate in the care of patients with a solid tumor, it is the surgeon who is most intimately familiar with the operative procedures, their sequelae, and the long-term prognosis. Surgeons are therefore placed in a critical position that requires communicating a large amount of crucial information to a patient reacting to the catastrophic news of a cancer diagnosis. It is this position that also allows the surgeon to provide and to coordinate the emotional support of a patient about to undergo a major oncologic operation.