Compassion: An essential component of cancer care

Compassion is very much in the news; leading thinkers in health care are questioning whether health systems around the world have the capacity to deliver compassionate care—and there is an emerging research agenda (Sinclair et al., 2016). The need for compassionate care in cancer patients seems obvious—they typically face a life-threatening diagnosis, invasive treatments and long-term concerns over recurrence. Yet we need to think carefully...