Evaluation of the efficacy and usability of NCI's Facing Forward booklet in the cancer community setting.

Introduction: The NCI developed the print-based educational brochure, Facing Forward, to fill a gap in helping cancer patients meet the challenges of transitioning from active treatment to survivorship; however, little research has been conducted on its efficacy.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of Facing Forward in promoting the uptake of recommended behaviors (e.g.

Adult cancer survivors discuss follow-up in primary care: 'not what i want, but maybe what i need'.

BACKGROUND Nearly one-third of office visits for cancer are handled by primary care physicians. Yet, few studies examine patient perspectives on these physicians' roles in their cancer follow-up care or their care preferences. METHODS We explored survivor preferences through qualitative, semistructured, in-depth interviews drawing on patients recruited from 2 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers and 6 community hospitals.

Understanding the needs of women considering risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy.

Background: Because of the significantly increased lifetime risk of ovarian cancer associated with inheritance of a germline mutation in the BRCA1/2 genes, women with a deleterious mutation are recommended to undergo risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy at age 35 years or once child-bearing is complete. Significant time is often spent by nurses trained in genetics providing counseling to improve the decision-making process. The decision to undergo surgery is complex and laden with several sources of uncertainty.

Influential factors for post-fellowship career decision-making: an NCCN survey.

Insight into factors important to fellows' decision-making about their career paths is critical to successfully developing program curricula, making capacity projections, and recruiting oncology physicians. This study was performed to determine the factors associated with post-fellowship career decision-making. Program evaluation surveys were administered to oncology fellows who attended the Fellows Recognition Program at the 2009 NCCN Annual Conference.

Primary prevention, aging, and cancer: overview and future perspectives.

Cancer-specific primary prevention efforts for the geriatric population are not understood well and currently are underused despite the rapidly growing elderly population. It has been established that lifestyle changes, such as smoking cessation, dietary changes, and increasing physical activity, decrease the incidence of cancer in younger populations. However, a multitude of conceptual, methodological, and dissemination challenges arise when the objective is to apply primary prevention of cancer to the elderly.

Prevalence of aortic root dilation in the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of proximal aortic abnormalities in patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS).

Methods: In a prospective cohort study, aortic measurements by two-dimensional echocardiography were performed on consecutive EDS patients.

Results: Twenty-eight percent (20 of 71) had aortic root dilation (ARD) (> +2 SD above population based norms).