Due to its multidimensionality, difficulty in treatment and worrying prognoses as well as the frequency of occurrence, cancer remains an issue which is currently viewed not only in the perspective of medical science, but from the point of view of how individuals perceive the disease. Being diagnosed with cancer is a critical event in the life of an individual. In order to overcome it, new forms of activity must be taken up, many changes in the current lifestyle must be introduced in order to adjust and adapt the person to the new difficult situation. Despite the fact that suffering caused by the disease as well as the troublesome therapy and treatment reach far beyond the adaptive and emotional abilities of the patient, which causes a dangerous psychological crisis, there have been quite a few individual cases which allow us to approach cancer as a situation of development, as a turning point which can initiate the need for change and development. Coaching as an element of support and a method of working with the patient whose main intention is to develop them as a person and help them reach their personal goals might prove extremely effective in this area. Coaching a cancer patient might improve their life quality and turn the individual into an active participant of their own healing and personal development.

Key words: cancer patient, life quality, development, coaching.