Patients with chronic diseases remain a challenge for patient centered care in terms of symptom management. In advancing the nursing profession in this respect, organizing and providing such care in a structured and systematic way benefits from being grounded in a sound theoretical framework. Since 1994, University of California in San Francisco's Symptom Management Theory (SMT) holds promise to provide such theoretical foundation. This paper aims at presenting a French version of the SMT, the "théorie de gestion des symptômes (TGS)" as well as at discussing its application in research and practice. The paper illustrates how different concepts of SMT interrelate for different symptoms or symptom clusters in light of the current state of knowledge. Furthermore, a selection of symptom assessment scales available in French are presented to inform practice, education and research. We believe that providing a French version of the SMT will foster a systematic and structured development of symptom management in nursing practice and research in francophone regions or countries.