The Philosophy of Disclosure

From AK:

I'm sure most of us have seen some close variation on this clinical theme: a smoker has a suspicious lung mass with evidence of metastasis elsewhere, and you're consulted to help get tissue. The patient hasn't seen the scans, doesn't know the overwhelming odds that they have metastatic lung cancer. As a consultant, how much should you tell the patient before you have path results? If they ask about the possibility of surgical resection, is it right to put off an answer you know is highly likely to be correct?