Abstract
The history of palliative medicine started from a humanitarian/religious background, and developed into classical, modern, and then present-day hospice care. The characteristics of the present palliative medicine are as follows. 1) Based on the attitude of medical workers toward cancer patients, cancerassociated physical and psychosocial pain and distress in patients are holistically managed with medical knowledge and skills. 2) Palliative medicine is applied to the entire clinical course from the diagnosis of cancer and the treatment process to the terminal stage. 3) Palliative medicine is performed by a team consisting of various specialists. 4) The subjects of palliative care are not only inpatients/families in palliative care wards but also inpatients with cancer in general wards, outpatients, patients receiving care at home, and the bereaved. Thus, palliative care has been recognized as a medical care field for cancer that is provided widely, continuously, and comprehensively, from the stage of cancer diagnosis/treatment to the terminal stage. [Skin Cancer (Japan) 2006; 21: 252-260]
