Palliative care: patient’s autonomy in the end-of-life situation

Palliative care has evolved over the past five decades as an interprofessional specialty to improve quality of life and quality of care for patients with cancer and their families. The main objective in an end-of-life (EOL) situation is to maintain the autonomy and the dignity of the patient as much as possible. Due to the severity of progressive diseases and as a result of the poor general condition of the patient, their autonomy is often endangered. This case report presents a 70-year-old woman who suffered from hepatic and bone metastases from cancer of unknown primary (CUP) in a palliative setting and discusses the supportive treatment opportunities as well as the ethical thoughts about her autonomy.