Compassion in the medical field differs from its traditional meaning in daily
life. In medicine, compassion includes a desire to understand an individual’s
suffering, together with a wish to relieve it. In essence, compassion offers a unique
concept, according to which, the modern science of compassion can be practically
applied to suffering people, in many circumstances. This is particularly important for
some vulnerable groups of patients (e.g., ethnic minorities), such as women with
breast cancer (BC) (e.g., in advanced or metastatic stages, with comorbidities and
socioeconomic problems).
This chapter presents some suggestions (based on recent research reports) for helpful
strategies that medical professionals can use daily, to help maintain compassion
for their patients with serious diseases, including some aggressive cancers (e.g.,
Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)).
Keywords: Breast cancer (BC), Compassion, Empathy, Medical professionals, Patients with cancer, Sustainable compassion training (SCT), Transactional model of compassion (TMC).
