Zusammenfassung
For follow-up and rehabilitation, empathic discussion with the patient is necessary to develop strategies to cope with the diagnosis. Patients may need professional help in adapting to difficult situations. To support coping strategies and to reduce impairments caused by the disease or the side effects of treatment, options should be given and rehabilitative and psycho-oncological treatment ...
Zusammenfassung
For follow-up and rehabilitation, empathic discussion with the patient is necessary to develop strategies to cope with the diagnosis. Patients may need professional help in adapting to difficult situations. To support coping strategies and to reduce impairments caused by the disease or the side effects of treatment, options should be given and rehabilitative and psycho-oncological treatment offered. For those with an advanced tumor stage, the disease itself or the therapy for it may affect their earning ability; therefore, social support and rehabilitation may be necessary. For these patients, the main goal is to improve their quality of life. Their physicians must have high communication skills and be available to the patients and their families. In the adjuvant setting after completion of primary therapy, the patient should receive a follow-up examination every 3 months for the first 3 years, then every 6 months, and then yearly after 5 years. Symptom-oriented follow-up has been recently established, so radiographic imaging is recommended only in cases of clinically suspected recurrence or if direct therapeutic consequences are to be drawn. In the palliative setting, follow-up and radiographic imaging must be adapted to the disease stage and the patient's needs.
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