[Palliative care].

Improvement in the quality of life of patients with life-threatening illnesses or incurable progressive diseases, including patients with cancer and also several internal medical diseases, represents the major aim of palliative care. Basic principles are to also address the needs of the family caregiver and a comprehensive understanding of physical symptoms and psychosocial as well as spiritual aspects. Treatment planning for physical symptoms, e.g., pain, dyspnea and nausea, in patients in need of palliative care has to include the subjective symptom distress of the patient, factors that can be treated causally and the treatment limitations resulting from the underlying life-threatening or incurable disease. During terminal care all treatment measures should only focus on relief of symptom burden and fulfilling the patient's will.