Reasons why patients refuse a recommended oncological treatment
| Believe in the body’s own curative possibilities |
| Do not want a stoma |
| Do not want to be ill due to the treatment |
| Do not want to be used as a guinea pig |
| Do not want to enter into menopause, still wanting a child |
| Do not want to fight anymore |
| Do not want to lose a breast |
| Do not want to lose hair |
| Do not want to reach old age with dementia, incontinence, and dependency |
| Do not want to spend valuable time in hospital |
| Have accepted death |
| Have a lot to cope with, want to take time to do that |
| Have already reached old age |
| Have fear of treatment |
| Have no trust in treatment/medical establishment |
| Resist chemotherapy; consider it poison |
| Treatment decreases quality of life |
| Treatment will not result in cure, is only life prolonging |
| Want to continue playing tennis, making paintings, or walking in the mountains |
| Want to stay in control |
| Want to take responsibility for themselves |
| Want to work on the initial cause of the cancer, not just removing the symptoms |