How long do I have? Observational study on communication about life expectancy with advanced cancer patients

•Oncologists never spontaneously offered prognostic information; patients took the initiative.•Information was provided in different formats, most common were general time frames.•Oncologists used positive framing: they emphasized the best case scenario and beneficial prognostic predictors.•Oncologists stressed the indeterminacy of the estimates for the individual, yet not their precision or reliability.