European Journal of Cancer Care最新文献

Introduction: Mesothelioma is a life-limiting cancer that results in an array of psychological difficulties. While this cancer is associated with older men exposed to asbestos, it can develop in people under 60, though little research has considered the challenges and ways of supporting this younger demographic.

Methods: Online semistructured interviews were carried out one-to-one with a total of 18 individuals; 6 men and 12 women, aged 26–59 (mean age 45), diagnosed with pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma. Participants could also share and discuss photographs to help further convey their cancer experiences. An interpretative phenomenological approach guided the analysis of transcript and photographic data.

Results: Two themes with discrete subthemes are presented: “dying young of an older person’s disease,” which explores individuals’ experiences of shock at diagnosis and widespread sense of disrupted living, concern for family members, and lack of peer support, and “living young with an older person’s disease,” which explores psychobehavioral coping via focus on the atypicality of mesothelioma in young groups, return to everyday living, and via activities and exercise to manage anxiety and foster a sense of agency.

Conclusion: Findings demonstrate the need to develop tailored clinical and psychotherapeutic support to address the practical and psychological difficulties younger people encounter.

Introduction: This study investigates the relationship between maternal quality of life during pregnancy and childhood cancer risk, hypothesizing that lower maternal well-being increases the likelihood of cancer development in children.

Methods: This embedded explanatory sequential mixed-methods case-control study was conducted in Kerman, Iran, including 191 children under six, with 136 diagnosed with cancer in 2023. From these, 73 mothers of affected children were purposefully selected and compared to 118 mothers of healthy children, matched by age and socioeconomic status. Maternal factors (e.g., age, education, employment, medical history, and lifestyle) were assessed using validated questionnaires (GHQ-28, SES), administered through structured interviews. Logistic regression (SPSS 28) and Python-based heatmap visualization were used for analysis. Qualitative data were extracted from interview narratives and analyzed thematically.

Results: Between 2014 and 2023, pediatric cancer diagnoses increased, especially malignant types. Significant maternal factors included older age, unemployment, lower education, medical history, and smoking. Paternal education, occupational exposure, and smoking also contributed. Qualitative themes—persistent anxiety, depressive thoughts, and perceived lack of purpose—offered contextual depth to the statistical findings.

Conclusions: Maternal quality of life during pregnancy significantly influences childhood cancer risk. Integrated interventions addressing maternal mental health, socioeconomic disparities, and occupational exposures are essential. Public health policies should prioritize maternal well-being to create protective environments for children.

Objective: Access to health care aims to improve people’s health and reduce inequalities. This is a fundamental health policy concern. Over the past 40 years, research has identified several dimensions of access to health care but has often overlooked their interconnections. Based on a mixed geographical and relational method, our article aims to propose a systemic and dynamic analysis of the main dimensions of access to care.

Methods: The population studied in this work consists of all 364 hematological cancer patients. In the first step, we map the movements of these patients in order to categorize them according to their ease of access to care. In the second step, we conduct semistructured interviews to identify nonspatial dimensions of access to care.

Results: Our theoretical results focus on identifying the main links and articulations between dimensions of access to care. They confirm the importance of geographical accessibility in access to care, but, in a more original way, they show the central role of acceptability (confidence in healthcare professionals), itself determined by awareness.

Conclusion: This study suggests that policies to improve access to care should be accompanied by the development of patient awareness and acceptability. In practice, this can be achieved by combining tools such as cooperation between hospitals and healthcare professionals, professional networks, telemedicine, and local hospital accreditation.

Aims and Objectives: The aim is to evaluate the effect of a recently developed mobile application consisting of information, tasks, and gamification has had for patients undergoing colorectal surgery.

Background: Patients undergoing colorectal surgery are recommended to follow enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) guidelines. Yet, patients do not always follow ERAS recommendations. Patients express that they would like to have information about their course, that information material must be available at different times, and that too many papers and pamphlets can seem confusing and overwhelming.

Design: In this comparative nonrandomized pilot study, a mobile application is evaluated. Thirty-eight adult patients divided into intervention and control groups were included the study. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used.

Methods: Both groups answered questionnaires before discharge after surgery. Demographic data, The Preparedness for Colorectal Cancer Surgery Questionnaire Subsequently (PCSQ-PRE_24), intake of protein drink, and the degree of mobilization were collected. Four patients from the intervention group participated in a focus group interview. The STROBE cohort checklist was used.

Results: The study showed significant difference in favor of the intervention group in PCSQ-PRE_24: subtheme understanding and involvement in care processes p = 0.043 and total score p = 0.034 as well as intake of protein drink showed significant difference p = 0.012. There was no significant difference in terms of mobilization. The patients stated that the mobile application was easy to use and made them secure through their surgical procedure.

Conclusion: The results from this pilot study showed that patients undergoing colorectal surgery benefit from a tool in the form of a mobile application that can guide them through their surgical procedure.

A. Rosich-Soteras, C. Ramos-Serrano, A. Serrahima-Mackay, et al., “Anxiety and Depression in Patients Receiving Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Their Caregivers: A Dyadic Longitudinal Study,” European Journal of Cancer Care 2025 (2025): 5744882, https://doi.org/10.1155/ecc/5744882.

In the article titled “Anxiety and Depression in Patients Receiving Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Their Caregivers: A Dyadic Longitudinal Study,” an affiliation was omitted in error. This affiliation has been added to the affiliation list below as number 2, and the correct author list and their affiliations are shown below.

Arianna Rosich-Soteras^1,2, Carla Ramos-Serrano¹, Anna Serrahima-Mackay¹, Cristina Gallego Miralles¹, Teresa Solano Moliner¹, Núria Jaramillo Forcada¹, Laia Guardia Roca¹, Ariadna Domenech¹, and Adelaida Zabalegui^2,3

¹Institute of Cancer and Blood Diseases, Hospital Clínic Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

²Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Carrer Casanova, 143, 08036 Barcelona, Spain

³Nursing Management Department, Hospital Clínic Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

We apologize for this error.

Background: Sarcoma represents a group of cancers that carry a disproportionate impact on the well-being of people who are diagnosed and carers. Unlike more common cancers, limited tumour-specific support exists for people with sarcoma and carers. The aim of this study was to explore the potential role a telephone helpline could play in supporting people diagnosed with sarcoma and carers.

Methods: This study utilised an exploratory qualitative approach with a social constructionist framework. Semistructured interviews were conducted with people diagnosed with sarcoma, carers, bereaved carers and health professionals. Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted to determine themes.

Results: 43 semistructured interviews were conducted with people with sarcoma (n = 12), carers (n = 11), bereaved carers (n = 4) and health professionals (n = 16). Five themes were identified: ‘the current system is not meeting needs,’ ‘holistic support,’ ‘a source of credible information,’ ‘the helpline operator’ and ‘centralised support for my sarcoma.’

Conclusion: Significant unmet needs continue to exist for people diagnosed with sarcoma and carers. A community support helpline was conceptualised as a helpful and effective tool for meeting the medical, psychosocial and information needs of all people impacted by sarcoma.

Background: Cancer cachexia is a multifactorial syndrome that affects patients’ quality of life and survival. It accounts for over 20% of cancer deaths. Despite its high incidence, there is no evidence-based standard of care for managing it. Early detection and management require preventative measures and multimodal therapy.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to conduct an in-depth review of the literature on cancer cachexia and its barriers for effective assessment and management.

Methods: The literature review was conducted through various electronic databases to identify studies published on cancer cachexia and its barriers for effective assessment and management of cancer cachexia.

Results: The review indicated that barriers for effective assessment and management of cancer cachexia were on three levels: patients, health workers, and organizations. Also, there is a knowledge gap in understanding, assessing, and managing cancer cachexia among healthcare workers, patients, and family members.

Conclusion: The research indicates that patients, family members, and healthcare professionals lack sufficient knowledge about how to identify, assess, and treat cancer cachexia. This gap has a lot of important barriers, both modifiable and nonmodifiable. Patients, healthcare professionals, and organizations are the three levels of those barriers.

Introduction: In 2025, one in two adults will be diagnosed with cancer. This is challenging for all people affected by cancer, including the children and young people within the family unit, and it can affect their physical, emotional and social well-being. However, little is known about the support and needs of children and young people who are caring for someone within the family with a cancer diagnosis.

Methods: Five databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycINFO and PubMed), assorted repositories, government reports and websites were searched from 1993 to 2025. All research studies in English, German and French were included and restricted to children and young people aged five to 25 years who care for a family member regularly. A team of independent reviewers made the inclusion and quality assessments using the MMAT standardised critical appraisal tool.

Results: Thirty-four papers were initially considered eligible, with fourteen being disregarded. The themes identified within the literature were (1) ‘Need for support’, (2) ‘Support available’ and (3) ‘Changing roles’.

Discussion and Recommendations: Although in some situations, the children and young people were able to cope with the heavy burden of being a carer, most studies reported a lack of support and several needs, for example, a lack of knowledge on how to care for their parent with cancer and need for support from their peers. In other situations where the cared-for person was dying, the addition of palliative care and end-of-life care was challenging. Although this experience led to not a good death, the young carer was left with a significant loss and no purpose for their own life.

Background: The impact of financial toxicity is extensive and far-reaching, even affecting the prognosis of patients with lung cancer. While the influence of sociodemographic factors on financial toxicity in patients with lung cancer has been identified, the exploration of the impact of psychosocial factors remains insufficient.

Aims: This study aims to explore the influencing factors and their pathways of financial toxicity in patients with lung cancer.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that utilized a convenience sampling method to select hospitalized patients with lung cancer as research population from a tertiary hospital in Sichuan Province between May and November 2023. Investigations were conducted using a general information questionnaire, Comprehensive Scores for Financial Toxicity, Social Support Rating Scale, and General Self-Efficacy Scale. Data analysis was performed using descriptive analysis, Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis H test, Spearman correlation analysis, stepwise linear regression analysis, and path analysis.

Results: The influencing factors of financial toxicity in patients with lung cancer include age, family income, commercial insurance coverage, social support, and self-efficacy. Furthermore, family income and social support have indirect effects on financial toxicity, while self-efficacy mediates the relationship between social support and financial toxicity.

Conclusion: The financial toxicity experienced by patients with lung cancer should be taken seriously. In clinical practice, healthcare professionals should promptly assess the level of financial toxicity in patients with lung cancer and implement personalized and diversified intervention measures to address it.

Objective: The relative strength of risk factors for cancer-related fatigue (CRF) among breast cancer survivors (BCSs) remains unclear. This study aims to systematically evaluate and compare the strength of different risk factors for CRF using a network meta-analysis (NMA) approach.

Methods: This NMA included observational studies on female BCSs with extractable data related to risk factors for CRF. The PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases were systematically searched, and the study protocol was registered in PROSPERO (reference no. CRD42025642021). A random-effects meta-analysis was performed to estimate pooled effect sizes, and an NMA with P-scores was used to rank the relative strength of risk factors. Subgroup analyses, sensitivity analyses, and meta-regression were conducted to assess methodological quality and explore potential sources of heterogeneity.

Results: Thirty observational studies (n = 36,302 female BCSs) that were published between 2004 and 2024 were included in this NMA. Depression exhibited the strongest association with CRF (OR = 3.34, 95% CI 2.50–4.46, P-score = 0.9727), followed by insomnia (OR = 2.35, 95% CI 1.45–3.81, P-score = 0.6549), pain (OR = 1.94, 95% CI 1.33–2.84, P-score = 0.4587), and anxiety (OR = 1.85, 95% CI 1.23–2.79, P-score = 0.4132). Subgroup analysis revealed that the associations of the four risk factors with CRF remained significant at the three posttreatment time points (< 1 year, 1–5 years, and > 5 years), with the exception of anxiety and insomnia at < 1 year and pain at > 5 years. Meta-regression demonstrated that higher study quality (measured via the Newcastle–Ottawa scale [NOS]) was significantly correlated with stronger associations of anxiety and insomnia with CRF (β = 0.305 and 0.221, p < 0.05, respectively). Sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the main findings.

Conclusion: Depression plays a central role in CRF development and should be prioritized in survivorship care. Integrating multimodal interventions for depression, sleep disturbances, and pain management may improve fatigue outcomes.