Bioethical and Medical-Legal Challenges in Multimodal Cancer Treatment: Addressing Misinformation and Informal, UnregisteredAdvice

Abstract

This article addresses the bioethical and medico-legal challenges in the multimodal treatment of cancer, emphasizing the growing gap between therapeutic advances and their clinical implementation. Many patients remain uninformed or lack access to advanced therapies, such as immunotherapy or targeted treatments, due to outdated practices in their healthcare centers. This situation often leads to frustration, as patients feel that not all potential treatment options have been explored.

The right of patients to receive clear, informed, and transparent guidance on their treatment is highlighted, as well as the necessity for proper documentation of medical decisions to ensure traceability and protect both the patient and the medical professionals involved. The lack of information or bias directly impacts patient autonomy, limiting their ability to make well-founded decisions.

The article also highlights the significant benefits of multimodal therapies, such as cytoreductive surgery and personalized immunotherapy, which have been shown to improve outcomes and quality of life in advanced cancer cases. It calls for treating physicians to act as guides or, when necessary, defer to specialized centers with proven expertise, thus avoiding limiting patients to conventional protocols.

The need for a multidisciplinary approach is clear, with a committee of clinical oncologists, radiation-oncologists, surgical oncologists, and pathologists, alongside immuno- oncopathology specialists, being essential to the development of personalized, biologically driven therapies. Advances in cancer treatment confirm the importance of this integrated approach, particularly through collaboration between pathologists and clinical oncologists who have specialized in biotechnology and precision medicine..