Barriers to shared decisions in the most serious of cancers: a qualitative study of patients with pancreatic cancer treated in the UK

We need to ask how patients can be expected to engage in an informed, shared decision if they are made to feel that they are one of the 'winners' if they qualify for surgery. When each treatment decision might have serious consequences for a patient's remaining months, we suggest that there is a particularly strong imperative to make sure that the patient is not subject to other people's assumptions about what is best for them and that patients are offered the opportunity to share in decisions.