EVALUATION OF THE INFORMED CONSENT PROCEDURE IN CANCER-PATIENTS CANDIDATE TO IMMUNOTHERAPY

By addressing questionnaires to 24 cancer patients candidate to immuno therapy, we evaluated both the effects and the effectiveness of the me dical information provided to the patient on their knowledge of the di sease and the treatment. Most patients had correctly understood the in formation but 69% stated that they had been unable to ask all the ques tions they wished, and 62% required additional information. Most patie nts admitted to being emotionally distressed throughout the interview. These results are not significantly different from those obtained in patients candidate to new chemotherapy agents, but show that important improvements in the informed consent procedure are required.