CANCER Psychologic Problems in the Management of Adolescents with Malignancy Experiences with 182 Patients

Having a malignant disease and having to undergo long-term therapy is an addi-tional stress to the normal physiologic and psychosocial stresses inherent in the adolescent’s maturation. Such patients present complex problems in manage-ment. These problems are not the same as those encountered by the pediatrician when dealing with an infant or child who is too young to understand the meaning of malignancy or who has not yet devel-oped a concept of self as it relates to death. Nor are these the same problems as those the internist meets when he treats adults who may have lived a ful