ABSTRACT
Supportive care in cancer patients is a concept that has evolved in the past 2 decades. The struggle against cancer as a life-threatening disease was primarily understood in terms of the destruction of cancer cells, the stopping of tumor growth, and the increase in survival time. The progress of medical science in the 20th century allowed many patients to understand that even cancer could be cured, or at least controlled, over years. Thus, success has inspired hope and improved quantity and quality of life for many patients. Once it became possible to increase survival time, the quality of life debate became more relevant. Death was no longer seen as the greatest and sole enemy of quality of life.
