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_ Measuring the ability to self-regulate
There is some evidence that questionnaires measuring patients’ adaptive capacity towards disease and health-orientated life-style change, such as the sense of coherence or self-regulation, could have stronger association with prognosis in oncology or other chronic conditions than HRQL scales. More.

This study confirms high rates of behavioral symptoms in breast cancer survivors, particularly those treated with chemotherapy, and Indicates a role for [tumor necrosis factor] TNF-α signaling as a contributor to postchemotherapy fatigue.
    Results also suggest that fatigue, sleep disturbance, and depression may stem from distinct biologic processes in post-treatment survivors, with inflammatory signaling contributing relatively specifically to fatigue.

Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sept. 10, 2011, 29 (26), 3517-3522. Abstract.

CPOPOnline * Posted May 25, 2011
Dr. Baukje Miedema, Dalhousie University Family Medicine Teaching Unit (Fredericton, NB), recently examined cancer follow-up care for young adult cancer survivors in Canada. The team conducted telephone interviews with 55 Canadians diagnosed with any type of cancer in the past one to five years. The average age of the participants was 33 years. Psychosocial care recommendations:

• A patient advocate during follow-up care
• "One-stop” cancer centers
• A survivorship care plan that includes psychosocial care.

Click for knowledge translation document.

Overview of long-term care of
breast cancer survivors
“The review also emphasises the need for survivorship care to include optimisation of general health, including psychosocial and sexual health, bone health and the evaluation of lifestyle-related risk factors and genetic factors.” – excerpt, Maturitas, Volume 69, Issue 2, June 2011, Pages 106-112

Scope, rationale and design of an infrastructure for the study of physical and psychosocial outcomes in cancer survivorship cohorts. “PROFILES is a tool that enables data collection management; from inviting patients to participation in studies, to collecting patient-reported outcomes data via web-based or mailed questionnaires and linking these data with clinical data. The availability of a control cohort of approximately 2000 persons from the general population who complete the same basic questionnaire annually will provide the opportunity to estimate the unique impact of cancer, beyond that of normal ageing and comorbidities. Raw data from the PROFILES registry will be available for non-commercial scientific research, subject to study question, privacy and confidentiality restrictions, and registration (www.profilesregistry.nl).” – excerpt, European Journal of Cancer, available online 27 May 2011

CPOP Talk, Winter 2010 - Prince George, BC, is the fourth site for the Empower pilot project, a three-part program to help cancer survivors and their support people adjust to life after treatment. Emotional well-being is one of the topics covered in the sessions. The Empower program, developed by a team at the Sociobehavioural Research Centre at the BC Cancer Agency, is already running in Victoria, Montreal and Halifax. <www.bccancer.bc.ca/RS/VancouverIslandCentre/sprograms.htm>

CPOP Talk, October 2010 - Cancer Care Nova Scotia's most recent public Cancer Answers session was held on Oct. 5, 2010, with Tom McNeil, a social worker with the Cape Breton Cancer Centre, talking about life after cancer treatment. "After Cancer Treatment" slides can be found at www.cancercare.ns.ca/site-cc/media/cancercare/Treatment%20%20final.pdf. Eastlink Television is broadcasting the presentation from Oct. 14-21 on Podium TV, and nine libraries in Nova Scotia have the lecture on DVD. Other Cancer Answers lectures can be found at www.cancercare.ns.ca, in the Patients & Families section, Education & Resources, Cancer Answers Lecture Series.

CPOP Talk, Summer 2010 - Cancer survivors’ recovery doesn’t end with the final treatment; it takes much longer to fully recover, and the health care system isn’t responding to survivors’ needs. To help fill that gap, Young Adult Cancer Canada is offering survivors in their 20s and 30s a new online service. After people have signed up and filled out the self-assessment forms and treatment details, they’re encouraged to establish physical,  emotional, professional and social goals. This could be done in concert with family members, friends, peers and health professionals. Goaltender tracks members’ progress and offers suggestions designed to help people reach their goals. Other features: an appointment scheduler, research, and a social networking tool to connect survivors. The site was officially launched on July 27; as of the second week in August, 30 people had signed up and more are expected in the fall. We’ll bring you updates as the story unfolds.
Sources: www.cancergoaltender.ca; www.youngadultcancer.ca