CANCER: One of every three Americans alone will hear that verdict at some point in their lifetime. In cancer research and treatment centers throughout the world, some progress is being made - especially in children's and certain adult cancers. In spite of this, treatment of some of the most common tumors has shown only limited improvement. We can take small pleasure in our successes, when in the United States in the year 2001, six hundred thousand persons will succumb to the disease.

Certainly there are no simple solutions. We at the CHRISTUS Stehlin Foundation are convinced, however, that there is one serious impediment to progress in the cancer war that is not being adequately addressed. This is the critical lack of communication between the scientist studying the biological phenomenon of cancer, and the physician treating the victim of the disease.

We are totally persuaded that if major breakthroughs are to be realized tomorrow, more meaningful communication between scientist and physician must be established today. A total commitment to mutuality and cooperation between the researcher and the clinician is essential if we are to reach our common goals: the best possible care for the patients today, and tomorrow, eradication of the disease. This is much more than a theory. At the CHRISTUS Stehlin Foundation, we have put this philosophy to work and our successes have validated it.

A second working philosophy we have proved viable is this: We don't "treat cancer" on our oncology unit and in our clinic. Cancer is a thing. We treat, instead, the frightened, unfortunate human being who has cancer. We treat the person who, by being human, is endowed with an intrinsic dignity and an innate sacredness.

In our view, far too little attention has been directed toward understanding and alleviating the emotional problems of the person unfortunate enough to have cancer. There is only one anecdote for the debilitating worry and fear - emotions that inevitably accompany cancer - and this is hope. Dante wrote: "Abandon hope all ye who enter here." To allow a patient with cancer to heed that admonition is to condemn that person to a living hell.

Hope is the very essence of life. The word "hopeless" is never used in our oncology service. Too many people, including physicians, use the words "hopeless" and "incurable" interchangeably. Incurability is a physical state that is sometimes beyond our control, whereas hopelessness is a state of mind that must be avoided at all costs. Most patients can tolerate knowing that their cancer cannot be cured. None can tolerate hopelessness.

We believe that this crucial hope factor is best sustained in a framework of reality. As a result, an indispensable ingredient of our patient care is honest communication between physician and patient. It is impossible to communicate with any positive result without being truthful. Lack of truthfulness and lack of mutual confidence are the principle stumbling blocks to helping the patient emotionally. We discuss freely the diagnosis and course of treatment with the patient. We also discuss it with a member of the family if the patient approves. And we work tirelessly at preserving this communication with the family, for we are aware that the influence of a patient's care on the lives of his loved ones is incalculable.

It should be apparent that our physicians and scientists are dedicated to bridging more than the communication gap between themselves. There is a third person that must be entered into this communication chain: the patient. It is a sad commentary on our times that the more scientific we become, the more we move away from people. Today, scientists and members of medical teams tend to be wedded to monitors, scanners, and computers for information about the cancer patient. Unfortunately, we more we rely on technical surveillance, the more we seem to be losing our human qualities. At the CHRISTUS Stehlin Foundation we are determined to remove the layers of depersonalization that have come to separate the patient from those treating him/her. The rewards of the reciprocal relationship between patient, physician, and scientist are enormous. Not only is the patient the recipient of the knowledge gained by the doctor and scientist - the patient also supplies them with valuable information.

We have given a name to this triangle of communication. We call it tripartnership. Here, the patient, physician, and scientist stand shoulder to shoulder to shoulder in the cancer war. Neither is ever isolated from the other. Inside this unique commitment, tripartnership, the intrinsic dignity of the patient remains supreme.