Radiation oncology researcher here--I'm glad treatment was effective! I'm very busy tonight(ASTRO's abstract deadline is tomorrow) so I'll get straight to it.

Radiation oncology researcher here--I'm glad treatment was effective! I'm very busy tonight(ASTRO's abstract deadline is tomorrow) so I'll get straight to it. Generally speaking, your oncologist is not your enemy. Managing expectations with patients is very tough. Even if you tell a patient that radiation is palliative and is not meant to cure a significant fraction of them will believe it is curative. Cancer patients are unwilling to understand their prognosis and "drilling it in" so that patients can make accurate treatment decisions is important. See: https://www.astro.org/News-and-Media/News-Releases/2012/Many-incurable-lung-cancer-patients-misunderstand-the-goals-and-limitations-of-palliative-radiation-therapy.aspx https://www.astro.org/News-and-Media/News-Releases/2012/Many... "The study investigated patient beliefs about the effectiveness of palliative RT and analyzed survey data from 384 patients over the age of 21 who were diagnosed with stage IIIB (wet) or IV lung cancer from 2003 to 2005. Patients in the study received or were scheduled to receive RT and completed a survey approximately four months after diagnosis. Results from the survey indicated that most patients believed that palliative RT could help them: 78 percent of patients believed that RT was “very” or “somewhat likely” to help them live longer, and 67 percent believed that RT was “very” or “somewhat likely” to help them with problems or symptoms resulting from their cancer. Of concern, however, 64 percent did not understand that RT was not at all likely to cure their disease."