Many US cancer survivors still lost in transition : The Lancet (U.S. / Canada....)

Many US cancer survivors still lost in transition : The Lancet

paywalled: Physical Activity, Biomarkers, and Disease Outcomes in Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review

Physical Activity, Biomarkers, and Disease Outcomes in Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review:

Background
Cancer survivors often seek information about how lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, may influence their prognosis. We systematically reviewed studies that examined relationships between physical activity and mortality (cancer-specific and all-cause) and/or cancer biomarkers.

Methods
We identified 45 articles published from January 1950 to August 2011 through MEDLINE database searches that were related to physical activity, cancer survival, and biomarkers potentially relevant to cancer survival. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Statement to guide this review. Study characteristics, mortality outcomes, and biomarker-relevant and subgroup results were abstracted for each article that met the inclusion criteria (ie, research articles that included participants with a cancer diagnosis, mortality outcomes, and an assessment of physical activity).

Results
There was consistent evidence from 27 observational studies that physical activity is associated with reduced all-cause, breast cancer–specific, and colon cancer–specific mortality. There is currently insufficient evidence regarding the association between physical activity and mortality for survivors of other cancers. Randomized controlled trials of exercise that included biomarker endpoints suggest that exercise may result in beneficial changes in the circulating level of insulin, insulin-related pathways, inflammation, and, possibly, immunity; however, the evidence is still preliminary.

Conclusions
Future research directions identified include the need for more observational studies on additional types of cancer with larger sample sizes; the need to examine whether the association between physical activity and mortality varies by tumor, clinical, or risk factor characteristics; and the need for research on the biological mechanisms involved in the association between physical activity and survival after a cancer diagnosis. Future randomized controlled trials of exercise with biomarker and cancer-specific disease endpoints, such as recurrence, new primary cancers, and cancer-specific mortality in cancer survivors, are warranted.

JCO: Financial Hardship: A Consequence of Survivorship? editorial/link to original paper

editorial:
#1:  Financial Hardship: A Consequence of Survivorship?
Editorial: Financial Hardship: A Consequence of Survivorship?


referenced:
#2:  (paywalled) See accompanying article on page 1608 
 Risk Factors for Financial Hardship in Patients Receiving Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer: A Population-Based Exploratory Analysis

WebMD: Half of Cancer Survivors Die From Other Conditions

Half of Cancer Survivors Die From Other Conditions

Journal of Cancer Survivorship, abstract: Patient perceptions of communications on the threshold of cancer survivorship: implications for provider responses (small study)

Abstract 

 "......confusion, insecurity, vulnerability, loss, and abandonment....."

Introduction  

Although high quality professional–patient communication is recognized as fundamental to effective cancer care, less attention has been paid to developing an evidence basis for communications surrounding the stage of the cancer journey when primary cancer treatment concludes, management responsibilities shift from oncology specialist services into the generalist care domain, and the patient transitions beyond patienthood and into survivorship.

abstract: Web-Based Tailored Education Program for Disease-Free Cancer Survivors With Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Web-Based Tailored Education Program for Disease-Free Cancer Survivors With Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Randomized Controlled Trial
  
Abstract

Purpose 

To determine whether an Internet-based tailored education program is effective for disease-free cancer survivors with cancer-related fatigue (CRF). 

Conclusion 

An Internet-based education program based on NCCN guidelines and TTM may help patients manage CRF.

JCO - Editorial: Caring for the Whole Patient: The Science of Psychosocial Care

open access: Editorial (special series) Caring for the Whole Patient: The Science of Psychosocial Care

"This Journal of Clinical Oncology Special Series relates to the
science of psychosocial care. This series is designed to provide oncology
professionals with the most recent information about the psychological,
psychiatric, and social aspects of cancer care. The emergence of
the field of psychosocial care reflects growing public and professional
awareness of the potential for cancer and its treatment to have profound
effects on many aspects of life. A principal goal of psychosocial
care is to recognizeandaddress the effects that cancerandits treatment
have on the mental status and emotional well-being of patients, their
family members, and their professional caregivers....."

JCO - open access: Editorial - Financial Hardship: A Consequence of Survivorship?

Financial Hardship: A Consequence of Survivorship?


"Despite this success on the treatment front, we have done
little in a concerted and well-planned fashion to investigate
and address the problems of survivors. It is as if we have
invented sophisticated techniques to save people from
drowning, but once they have been pulled from the water,
we leave them on the dock to cough and splutter on their
own in the belief that we have done all that we can."

—Fitzhugh Mullan, MD, physician, survivor of cancer, and
founding president of the National Coalition for Cancer
Survivorship

Cancer Survivorship « Dr. Robert A. Nagourney – Rational Therapeutics – Blog including commentaries

"Some of you may have read the January report from the American Cancer Society (ACS) that described a decline in U.S. cancer death rates by 1.8 percent per year in men and 1.6 percent per year in women during the period between 2004 to 2008....."