Changing Roles and Responsibilities for Caregivers - free telephone workshop NCI June 19th

 The  Tenth Annual Cancer Survivorship Series:
Living With, Through & Beyond Cancer 

On Tuesday, June 19th, CancerCare, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute: Office of Cancer Survivorship and Office of Communications and Education, LIVESTRONG, American Cancer Society, Intercultural Cancer Council, Living Beyond Breast Cancer and National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, will present a free, telephone workshop entitled: Changing Roles and Responsibilities for Caregivers. You can listen to this program on the telephone or via live streaming through the internet.

This workshop is the third of a four-part series.  This free series is made possible by support from the National Cancer Institute and LIVESTRONG and offers cancer survivors, their families, friends and health care professionals practical information to help them cope with concerns that arise after treatment ends.   

The faculty for this program includes:

• Suzanne Martz-Dones, RN, MA, CCRN, NE-BC, Caregiver Perspective, Administrative Nurse Manager, Mount Sinai Hospital

• Barbara A. Given, PhD, RN, FAAN, University Distinguished Professor, Associate Dean for Research and Doctoral Program, College of Nursing, Michigan State University

• Stewart B. Fleishman, MD, Founding Director, Cancer Supportive Services, Continuum Cancer Centers of New York: Beth Israel & St. Luke's-Roosevelt

The fourth and final workshop of the series - Managing Post-Treatment Neuropathy - will take place on July 17th.  

These workshops are free – no phone charges apply.  However, pre-registration is required.  To register, and for more information, simply go to the CancerCare website, www.cancercare.org/connect.
If you missed Parts I or II of the series, they are available as podcasts, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 

Part I: Using Mind/Body Techniques to Cope with the Stress of Survivorship

Part II: Recapturing Joy and Finding Meaning
We are very excited to offer this telephone workshop series to you. We hope that you will join us and that you will share this information with your patients and colleagues.  

abstract: Long-term adjustment of early-stage ovarian cancer survivors

Long-term adjustment of early-stage ovarian cancer survivors:

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to describe the quality of life (QOL), consequences of treatment, complementary therapy use, and factors correlating with psychologic state in 58 survivors of early-stage ovarian cancer since little is known about the QOL of early-stage ovarian cancer survivors. Survivors were interviewed using standardized measures to assess physical, psychologic, social, and sexual functioning; impact of cancer on socioeconomic status; and complementary therapy use. Survivors reported good physical QOL scores and few unmet needs. However, menopausal symptoms and negative impact on sexuality were reported. Less than 10% of survivors reported either an interest in sex or were sexually active. Psychologic assessment yielded a subset of 26% of patients with scores suggestive of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 40% of survivors scored below the norm on the Mental Health Inventory-17 Survey. One third of patients required treatment for family/personal problems and took antianxiety medications. About 56% of survivors reported fear of cancer recurrence and 59% reported anxiety when their CA125 is tested. Better mental health was significantly related to less fatigue (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy [FACT]—fatigue, r = 0.61, P < 0.0001), less pain (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer [EORTC], r =−0.54, P < 0.0001), fewer stressful life events (Life Event Scale, r =−0.44, P > 0.001), and greater social support (MOS Social Support Survey, r = 0.41, P < 0.01). Early-stage ovarian cancer survivors had few physical complaints and unmet needs, but psychologic distress was evident in a subset of survivors; the majority of survivors reported sexual dysfunction. These results indicate the need for intervention and improved distress screening in the early-stage ovarian cancer population.

AOS9 Mortality in children of women diagnosed with cancer: A population based cohort study (abstract)

Blogger's Note: this paper is subscription based ($$$)

AOS9 Mortality in children of women diagnosed with cancer: A population based cohort study: Publication year: 2012

Source:European Journal of Cancer, Volume 48, Supplement 4

Background 
With increasing risks of cancer and improving chances of survival, an increasing number of female survivors are starting or extending their family post-diagnosis. The mortality risks in the offspring of mothers with a history of cancer were evaluated.

Methods
From the Swedish Multi-generation Register and the Cancer Register, we identified all 174,893 children whose mothers had been diagnosed with invasive cancer between 1958 and 2001. For these children, we calculated relative risks of death (standardised mortality ratios, SMRs) compared with the background population and assessed trends in SMRs.

Findings
With the exception of offspring of mothers with tobacco-related cancers (head and neck, thoracic, cervical; SMR 1.23 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13–1.33]), offspring of mothers with a history of cancer did not have increased mortality risk (SMR 1.00 [95% CI 0.97–1.03]). Children born within 1 year of their mother’s diagnosis had an increased mortality risk (SMR 1.66 [95% CI 1.25–2.13]), particularly if their mother was primiparous at diagnosis of breast cancer (SMR of 11.07 [95% CI 2.09–27.13]). Offspring born more than 1 year after their mother’s diagnosis of haemopoietic cancer were also at increased risk of death (SMR 2.07 [95% CI 1.10–3.35]).

Interpretation 
Timing of childbirth in relation to the mother’s diagnosis and type of cancer modifies mortality risks in the offspring. The increased mortality risk in children conceived around the time of the mother’s diagnosis suggests a negative effect of the cytotoxic treatment on the offspring, which primiparous women are more likely to accept than women who have given birth before. Despite the high relative risks, absolute increases in mortality risks are small.

Funding M. Hartman was supported by NMRC/1180/2008 and NUS Start-up Fund DPRT (Grant No. R-186-000-108-133). This study was also funded by the Swedish Research Council (SIMSAM Grant No. 80748301). The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Supportive Care: Daytime sleepiness and sleep duration in long-term cancer survivors and non-cancer controls: results from a registry-based survey study

Conclusions

Disturbances in daytime sleepiness and sleep duration persist among long-term cancer survivors and should be monitored in routine survivorship care. More research is needed to identify cancer survivors who are at increased risk for daytime sleepiness and disturbed sleep duration, as well as to identify causal mechanisms for, and interventions to mitigate, persistent differences.

full free access: The Paradox of Positive Thinking - JCO

Cancer survivors: still room for improvement : The Lancet Oncology

JCO -- Collected Resources : Survivorship issues

Note: 19 (hmmmmm...) articles

The interface between primary and oncology specialty care: treatment through survivorship

Oncology Pharmacists Can Help Cancer Survivors Cope (Pharmacy Practice News)

Note: requires registration/free to view

".........She also said that more education should be directed at cancer survivors so that they know where to go when they have a problem when they are not routinely managed by the cancer care team.
“It may not be their oncology pharmacist, it may be their primary care physician or their community pharmacy, but we must tell them that these symptoms can occur and that they should be addressed. Our role as educators shouldn’t simply be to tell them that their chemotherapy can cause nausea and vomiting; rather, I think it should be to tell them that they may experience symptoms..."cont'd

Associations Among Cancer Survivorship Discussions, Patient and Physician Expectations, and Receipt of Follow-Up Care - JCO abstract

Note: abstract - 1)  pay-per-view/subscription journal; 2) selected key points:  total study # of patients= 431; breast cancer responses = 52%; gyn cancers = 4%; study did not break down differing gyn cancers; caucasian =94%

The Role of a Clinician-Led Reflective Interview on Improving Self-Efficacy in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Pilot Study

2nd article: The interface of primary and oncology specialty care: from diagnosis through primary treatment.

The interface between primary and oncology specialty care: treatment through survivorship

Cancer Doesn’t End With Treatment

Cancer Recurrence Fears - MD Anderson Cancer Center

"For many cancer survivors, the fear of recurrence is oppressive. It hinders them from enjoying everyday activities and profoundly affects their quality of life. However, by learning to manage their anxieties, patients can become more confident about their survivorship."

Comparisons of Patient and Physician Expectations for Cancer Survivorship Care

Purpose: To compare expectations for cancer survivorship care between patients and their physicians and between primary care providers (PCPs) and oncologists.

Conclusion: Patients and physicians have discordant expectations with respect to the roles of PCPs and oncologists in cancer survivorship care. Uncertainties around physician roles and responsibilities can lead to deficiencies in care, supporting the need to make survivorship care planning a standard component in cancer management.