(from the journal abstract) Systemic model considering families of cancer patients (as units facing the disease) and treatment teams in close interactions, where the patient is often at the crossroad of spirals of enmeshment and disengagement seems mostly appropriate to be applied in oncology. In the field, indeed, the complex healthcare network and the variety of professionals and specialists involved, and the different steps, in the diagnostic and therapeutic process, may be the source of splitting that a global approach (systemic diagnostic) is able to integrate for the most benefit of the patient and family. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)