In Japan, the Cancer Control Act was passed in 2006. Consequently, our
center has been proactively conducting palliative care promotions. Concerning health
insurance coverage, the “Cancer Counseling Fee” became payable for health insurance
remuneration as of April 2010. The cancer counseling fee covers the service provided
to patients diagnosed with malignant tumors in an environment with sufficient
consideration of their psychological states. Physicians with experience in cancer
treatment and full-time nurses with experience with cancer patients collaborate to
explain and consult with patients to allow them to select a line of treatment upon full
understanding of and consent to diagnoses and treatment methods. At our center,
cancer patients are offered cancer counseling in all clinical departments, and an
explanation by a pathologist in a pathology clinic plays an important role in performing
well-organized cancer counseling.
When explaining the diagnosis to patients in the pathology clinic, the pathologist also
attends to the patients’ emotions while listening to their anxieties and empathizing with
their pain. Patients that accurately understand the conditions of their illness and the
treatment’s policies and effects are more likely to consent to the explanation by the
attending physician and proactively accept the standard therapy by the attending
physician, which increases medical compliance. The combination of the explanation by a pathologist in the pathology clinic and cancer counseling by a nurse can improve the
mental disposition of these patients.
Keywords: Cancer counseling, Diagnosis, Informed consent, Malignancy,
Pathology clinic.
