psycho-oncology

Background: Patients with childhood cancer and their families frequently experience psychosocial distress associated with cancer and its treatment. We thus examined the reliability and validity of a Japanese version of the Psychosocial Assessment Tool, which was designed to screen for psychosocial risk factors among families of children with cancer.

Objective: Informal caregivers of people with lung cancer often experience a substantial care burden and associated negative consequences due to the often‐contracted course of the disease. The objective of this review was to systematically examine the evidence on the factors associated with lung cancer caregiver distress. Methods: Five databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsychINFO and Web of Science) were searched for studies investigating factors associated with distress amongst caregivers of people with lung cancer.

Objective: Telehealth platforms have potential utility for providing remote access to supportive care to people with brain tumour. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and efficacy of delivering supportive care via telehealth platforms to adults with primary brain tumour and family caregivers. Methods: A systematic search of PsycINFO, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus and Cochrane Library was conducted from 1980 to 1st June 2020 to identify eligible studies. Methodological quality was assessed by two independent reviewers.

Objective: Black Americans are disproportionately affected by cancer and chronic diseases. Black patients with cancer and their family caregivers may concurrently experience symptoms that influence their wellbeing. This study investigates the influence of mental and physical symptom distress on quality of life (QOL) among Black Americans with cancer and their family caregivers from a dyadic perspective.

Objective: Informal family caregivers provide critical support for patients receiving chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T‐cell therapy. However, caregivers' experiences are largely unstudied. This study examined quality of life (QOL; physical functioning, pain, fatigue, anxiety, and depression), caregiving burden, and treatment‐related distress in caregivers in the first 6 months after CAR T‐cell therapy, when caregivers were expected to be most involved in providing care. Relationships between patients' clinical course and caregiver outcomes were also explored.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyse longitudinal development of prognostic awareness in advanced cancer patients and their families. Methods: This was a longitudinal cohort study, involving 134 adult cancer patients, 91 primary family caregivers and 21 treating oncologists. Key eligibility criterion for patients was life expectancy less than 1 year (estimated by their oncologists using the 12‐month surprised question).

Objective: After diagnosis, caregivers of children with cancer, particularly mothers or primary caregivers (PCs), often show elevated depressive symptoms which may negatively impact family functioning. We tested PC and secondary caregiver (SC) depressive symptoms as predictors of family, co‐parenting, and marital functioning and whether having a non‐depressed SC buffers against potential negative effects of PC depressive symptoms. Methods: Families (N = 137) were recruited from two major children's hospitals following a diagnosis of pediatric cancer.

Objective: The vital role played by primary caregivers in caring for cancer patients is well‐recognized, but the caregiver burden and impact on family functioning to caregivers’ mental health is poorly understood. This study examined the prospective and reciprocal relationships between family functioning, caregiver burden, and mental health. We aimed to determine whether inferior family functioning and heavy caregiver burden act as risk factors for mental health, as consequences of mental health, or both.

Objective: Caregiver resilience in the context of childhood cancer treatment has been described using cross‐sectional and retrospective studies, but little is known about prospective predictors of resilience outcomes. We examined associations of demographics, cancer‐related variables, and intrapersonal and interpersonal factors at diagnosis (family psychosocial risk, perceived social support, and healthcare self‐efficacy) and psychosocial services provided during treatment with caregiver resilience outcomes at the end of treatment.

Objective: Ovarian cancer remains an understudied cancer with poor prognosis, few effective treatments and little understanding of the how individuals and their families face the challenges and uncertainty following diagnosis. This study synthesized the subjective experiences of individuals and their caregivers in the face of the uncertainty produced by the disease. Methods: Qualitative data were obtained from the Ovarian Cancer Australia 2017 Consumer Survey.