The relationship between coping strategies, quality of life, and mood in patients with incurable cancer.

Background: Patients with incurable cancer face many physical and emotional stressors, yet little is known about their coping strategies or the relationship between their coping strategies, quality of life (QOL), and mood.

Methods: As part of a randomized trial of palliative care, this study assessed baseline QOL (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General), mood (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and coping (Brief COPE) in patients within 8 weeks of a diagnosis of incurable lung or gastrointestinal cancer and before randomization. To examine associations between coping strategies, QOL, and mood, we used linear regression, adjusting for patients' age, sex, marital status, and cancer type.

A Systematic Review of Adherence to Oral Antineoplastic Therapies.

Background: Oral antineoplastic therapies not only improve survival but also reduce the burden of care for patients. Yet patients and clinicians face new challenges in managing adherence to these oral therapies. We conducted a systematic literature review to assess rates and correlates of adherence to oral antineoplastic therapies and interventions aimed at improving adherence.

Postsurgical Depressive Symptoms and Proinflammatory Cytokine Elevations in Women Undergoing Primary Treatment for Breast Cancer.

Objective: Depression and inflammation may independently promote breast cancer (BCa) disease progression and poorer clinical outcomes. Depression has been associated with increased levels of inflammatory markers in medically healthy individuals and patients with cancer. However, inconsistencies in study time frames complicate interpretation of results within specific cancer types.

A randomized controlled trial of cognitive-behavioral stress management in breast cancer: survival and recurrence at 11-year follow-up.

Non-metastatic breast cancer patients often experience psychological distress which may influence disease progression and survival. Cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) improves psychological adaptation and lowers distress during breast cancer treatment and long-term follow-ups. We examined whether breast cancer patients randomized to CBSM had improved survival and recurrence 8-15 years post-enrollment.

Ethnic differences in types of social support from multiple sources after breast cancer surgery.

Objectives: Diagnosis of and treatment for breast cancer (BCa) may require psychological adaptation and often involve heightened distress. Several types of social support positively relate to psychological adaptation to BCa, and negative support is associated with poorer adaptation. Although Hispanic women report greater distress than non-Hispanic White (NHW) women after diagnosis of BCa, no studies have examined ethnic differences in types of social support received from varying sources after surgery for BCa.

Perceived Fatigue Interference and Depressed Mood: Comparison of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Patients with Fatigued Breast Cancer Survivors.

Objective: Persistent fatigue and depressive symptoms are both highly prevalent among patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) as well as breast cancer survivors. This study aimed to assess and directly compare perceptions of fatigue as highly interfering in one's daily functioning in both patient populations to better understand their relationships with depressed mood.

Methods: Participants were 95 female CFS/ME patients and 67 females who were approximately 5 years post-treatment for stage 0-III breast cancer presenting with clinically elevated fatigue severity.

Brief cognitive-behavioral and relaxation training interventions for breast cancer: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Women with breast cancer (BCa) report elevated distress postsurgery. Group-based cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) following surgery improves psychological adaptation, though its key mechanisms remain speculative. This randomized controlled dismantling trial compared 2 interventions featuring elements thought to drive CBSM effects: a 5-week cognitive-behavioral training (CBT) and 5-week relaxation training (RT) versus a 5-week health education (HE) control group.

Long-term psychological benefits of cognitive-behavioral stress management for women with breast cancer: 11-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Breast cancer survivors experience long-term physical and psychological sequelae after their primary treatment that negatively influence their quality of life (QOL) and increase depressive symptoms. Group-based cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) delivered after surgery for early-stage breast cancer was previously associated with better QOL over a 12-month follow-up and with fewer depressive symptoms up to 5 years after study enrollment. This 8- to 15-year follow-up (median, 11 years) of a previously conducted trial (NCT01422551) evaluated whether women in this cohort receiving CBSM had fewer depressive symptoms and better QOL than controls at an 8- to 15-year follow-up.

Randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioral stress management in breast cancer: a brief report of effects on 5-year depressive symptoms.

Objective: Survivors of breast cancer experience stress and are at risk for depressive symptoms following primary treatment. Group-based interventions such as cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) delivered postsurgery for nonmetastatic breast cancer (BCa) were previously associated with fewer depressive symptoms over a 12-month follow-up; few studies have examined the longer-term benefits of such psychosocial interventions. This 5-year follow-up study of a previously conducted trial (#NCT01422551) tested whether group-based CBSM following surgery for nonmetastatic BCa was associated with fewer depressive symptoms.

NCCAM/NCI Phase 1 Study of Mistletoe Extract and Gemcitabine in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors.

Purpose: European Mistletoe (Viscum album L.) extracts (mistletoe) are commonly used for cancer treatment in Europe. This phase I study of gemcitabine (GEM) and mistletoe in advanced solid cancers (ASC) evaluated: (1) safety, toxicity, and maximum tolerated dose (MTD), (2) absolute neutrophil count (ANC) recovery, (3) formation of mistletoe lectin antibodies (ML ab), (4) cytokine plasma concentrations, (5) clinical response, and (6) pharmacokinetics of GEM.

Postsurgical physical activity and fatigue-related daily interference in women with non-metastatic breast cancer.

Purpose: Women undergoing surgery for breast cancer experience side effects, such as fatigue, reduced quality of life (QOL) and depression. Physical activity (PA) is associated with improved psychological adjustment during treatment and survivorship, yet little is known about how PA relates to fatigue, depression and QOL in the period following surgery for breast cancer. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between these constructs in women who recently underwent surgery for breast cancer.

Cognitive-behavioral stress management reverses anxiety-related leukocyte transcriptional dynamics.

Background: Chronic threat and anxiety are associated with pro-inflammatory transcriptional profiles in circulating leukocytes, but the causal direction of that relationship has not been established. This study tested whether a cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) intervention targeting negative affect and cognition might counteract anxiety-related transcriptional alterations in people confronting a major medical threat.

Methods: One hundred ninety-nine women undergoing primary treatment of stage 0-III breast cancer were randomized to a 10-week CBSM protocol or an active control condition.

Botanicals used in complementary and alternative medicine treatment of cancer: clinical science and future perspectives.

Background: Botanicals and herbal combinations are among the most common complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches used by cancer patients both for cancer treatment and management of cancer symptoms. Despite their widespread use, however, the safety and efficacy of many botanicals has not been established in controlled clinical trials.

Objectives: This article reviews the published evidence for the safety and clinical benefit of botanicals used in the treatment of cancer and cancer symptom management and describes the continuing clinical trials of botanicals with applications in oncology.