When the editors asked me to write a foreword to this book I felt very honoured but somewhat embarrassed. I am not a physician but I have spent many years dealing with the organizational problems of the care and assistance of cancer patients who have no hope of recovering. The Floriani Foundation became active in 1977 with a donation from my wife and myself following a sad family experience. The aim of this Foundation is to assist research, studies and diffusion of information in order to better the quality of life of people suffering from debilitating chronic disease, the most important of...