Cancer prevention: major initiatives and looking into the future.

Cancer is one of the major causes of death in countries across the world. However, at least half of cancers could be prevented. This article reviews the relationship between cancer incidence and the major risk factors: tobacco use, exposure to infections, nutrition, obesity and physical activity.

Impact of a peer-delivered telephone intervention for women experiencing a breast cancer recurrence.

Purpose: A first breast cancer recurrence creates considerable distress, yet few psychosocial interventions directed at this population have been reported. The Southwest Oncology Group conducted a phase III randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief telephone intervention.

Patients And Methods: Three hundred five women experiencing a first recurrence of breast cancer were randomly assigned to standard care or intervention.

Ethnic identities and lifestyles in a multi-ethnic cancer patient population.

This report examined ethnic identity in 367 recently diagnosed cancer patients in Hawai'i's primary ethnic groups: Japanese, Hawaiians, Europeans, and Filipinos. The study assessed ethnic self-identify; definitions of and participation in different ethnic lifestyles; and relationships between measures of ethnic self-identity, lifestyle, and other indicators of ethnic and cultural affiliations. Results indicated that medical record-based ethnic indicators were well linked to individual self-reports of family pedigree.

Assessing cancer-related quality of life across a spectrum of applications.

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is increasingly assessed to understand the effects of cancer and cancer-related interventions. At the macro level, monitoring HRQOL in the population and in cancer survivors may be important to track progress against cancer and evaluate the outcome of policies and programs. At the meso level, where most research, to date, has been focused, HRQOL data may be used in descriptive and analytic studies to understand the impact of cancer, patterns of care, and effects of interventions for cancer prevention, treatment, and continuing care.

Quality of life in patients who survive a dire prognosis compared to control cancer survivors.

The primary goal of this study was to describe well-being and its correlates in long-term cancer survivors who had exceeded their life expectancies ('exceptional survivors' (ES)) and to identify ways in which exceptional survivors differed from cancer survivors with much better prognoses ('control survivors' (CS)). Survivors were identified through a population-based tumor registry, and ES (n = 160) were matched to CS (n = 160) on age, ethnicity, site of disease, and time since diagnosis. Data were collected through in person interviews and self-administered questionnaires.

Cancer-related attitudes: A comparative study in Japan and the US.

The cancer-related attitudes and beliefs of adults living in central Japan (N = 357) were compared to those of respondents in a US state (Hawaii) (N = 223) consisting of both Japanese (n = 106) and Caucasian (n = 117) individuals. Almost all US subjects endorsed doctors disclosing cancer diagnoses to their patients, while a minority of the Japan sample supported cancer disclosure as a general practice. However, the majority of Japan respondents expressed a personal preference to be told if they themselves were diagnosed with cancer, as did virtually all US respondents.

Health attitudes and behaviors: comparison of Japanese and Americans of Japanese and European Ancestry.

Adults living in Japan (N = 357) and the US (N = 223) completed semi-structured interviews assessing health-related attitudes and practices. The US respondents were of Japanese (N = 106) and European (N = 117) ancestry. Results indicated considerable similarity between the two US groups and significant differences between the Japanese and American respondents.

Quality of life assessment in cancer clinical research: current status and a look to the future.

Quality of life (QOL) is a term that has been used to denote outcomes as experienced by the patient. Although definitions of QOL vary, virtually all investigators agree that QOL in clinically-ill individuals encompasses multiple domains or areas of well-being (including, at a minimum, physical, psychological and social functioning, as well as symptoms) and that the perspective of the patient is critical in any measurement of QOL. While patient perspectives are important in any health condition, they become particularly so in diseases which are chronic or incurable and for which treatments have toxic or long-lasting consequences.

Assessment of quality of life in a multicultural cancer patient population.

Quality of life (QOL) is increasingly assessed in cancer patients. In this article, the authors examined the psychometric performance of a commonly used QOL questionnaire, the Quality of Life Questionnaire--Cancer 30 (QLQ-C30; N. K.

Ethnic differences in quality of life among early breast and prostate cancer survivors.

This study assessed quality of life (QOL) in recently diagnosed breast and prostate cancer patients of European American and Asian Pacific Islanders (specifically, individuals of Filipino, Japanese, and Native Hawaiian ancestry) to investigate whether QOL varied according to ethnicity and the relative importance of ethnicity as a predictor of QOL. Participants were identified through consecutive registrations on the Hawaii Tumor Registry, based on a diagnosis of breast or prostate cancer 4-6 months previously. QOL was measured by the QLQ-C30, a standardized questionnaire widely used in cancer patient populations.

Preferences for Psychosocial Interventions Among Newly Diagnosed Cancer Patients from a Multiethnic Population.

This article addresses preferences for psychosocial interventions in newly diagnosed cancer patients in a multiethnic sample consisting of Americans of European, Filipino, Native Hawaiian, and Japanese ancestry. Patients who were diagnosed with cancer four to six months before the study were identified through consecutive registrations on the Hawai'i Tumor Registry. Data were collected through personal interviews using a standardized questionnaire.