Hope For Cancer Patients Research Articles

Exploring the therapeutic value of hope in palliative nursing

Hope is a multi-dimensional concept that is integral to a dying person's needs. It is an essential resource that assists individuals with a life-threatening illness to cope during times of intense physical and psychological distress. The objective of this article is to explore and analyze the therapeutic value of hope. The phenomenon of hope will be explored through the analysis and application of Dufault and Martocchio's Multidimensional Model of Hope (MMH) to a clinical scenario. Factors determining hope in cancer patients as well as interventions that can foster hope in dying patients will be identified. Discussion includes examination of literature gaps, relevance to nursing practice, and practical strategies to engender hope and thereby enhance quality of life (QOL) in advanced cancer patients.

Emerging Anticancer Therapeutic Targets and the Cardiovascular System

The race for a cure to cancer continues, fueled by unprecedented discoveries of fundamental biology underlying carcinogenesis and tumorigenesis. The expansion of the target list and tools to approach them is moving the oncology community extraordinarily rapidly to clinical trials, bringing new hope for cancer patients. This effort is also propelling biological discoveries in cardiovascular research, because many of the targets being explored in cancer play fundamental roles in the heart and vasculature. The combined efforts of cardiovascular and cancer biologists, along with clinical investigators in these fields, will be needed to understand how to safely exploit these efforts. Here, we discuss a few of the many research foci in oncology where we believe such collaboration will be particularly important.

Life satisfaction, spirituality well-being and hope in cancer patients

The aim of this study was to predict life satisfaction through spirituality well-being and hope in cancer patients. for this reason, 120 cancer patients have selected by available sampling method as research sample and completed spirituality well-being, hope and life satisfaction scales. Results showed that there was significant difference among spirituality well-being, hope and life satisfaction. as well, regression analyses showed that existential and religious well-being and hope predict significantly the life satisfaction. we can conclude that spirituality well-being and hope have important role in life satisfaction and psychological adjustment.

Strategies to optimize the use of targeted agents for tumor therapy

In recent years the traditional treatment spectrum of tumors--chemotherapy or radiotherapy--has been extended with immune-modulating strategies. For some tumors, clinical responses have been observed but for numerous others no satisfactory approach has been established. Many new agents have been developed; the targeted or smart drugs modulate a constantly growing list of tumor-specific signal pathways and represent an enormous hope for cancer patients. The clinical evaluation of these targeted drugs alone or in combination also presents an enormous challenge. Since the number of possible combinations of targeted drugs seems almost limitless, an accurate strategy for determination of success-promising combination patterns for the individual cancer patient is of special importance.

Level and direction of hope in cancer patients: an exploratory longitudinal study

Hope is an important factor to consider when caring for cancer patients as a key component of coping with adversity. The aim of our study was to address the following questions: Is there a difference in level of hope between those patients being curatively and those palliatively treated, and how does this change over time? What are patients' most important hopes? Better understanding of patients' hopes may promote more effective patient-centered care. Outpatients referred to medical oncology or pain and symptom clinics at the London Regional Cancer Program were surveyed before consultation. The Herth Hope Index (HHI) questionnaire was administered to assess level of hope, and the patients were asked to indicate their highest priority hopes. Qualitative thematic analysis was performed on the responses, and comparison was made between patients treated with curative vs those treated with palliative intent. This survey was repeated 4 months after initial assessment. Fifty patients were surveyed (29 curative-intent; 21 palliative). Highest priority initial hopes were categorized as follows: cure, other positive health outcomes, emotional well-being, life achievements/return to normalcy, interpersonal goals, other. There was no association noted between treatment intent and choice of highest-priority hope. Follow-up assessments after 4 months revealed no significant differences in the distribution pattern of hopes. There was a statistically significant increase in the HHI over time in curatively treated patients, but none in the combined analysis. Our study indicates that patients receiving palliative therapy have a HHI score not significantly different from patients being treated for cure. The hope deemed most important is also similar between groups. Over time, overall hope was maintained or increased even in the presence of a trend towards fewer patients hoping for a cure. These results remind oncologists to explore the experience of hope with all patients to ensure that the subjective needs and goals of the patients are met by the proposed therapies.

Offering Free Support, Education, and Hope for Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers: The Wellness Community.

For almost 25 years, The Wellness Community (TWC), an international nonprofit organization, has been providing support, education, and hope for people affected by cancer. TWC’s professionally led support groups, educational workshops, and stressreduction programs are anchored in peer-reviewed, evidence-based research. TWC utilizes the Patient Active Concept, created by founder Harold Benjamin, PhD, which states that people with cancer can learn vital skills to regain control, reduce feelings of isolation, and restore hope—regardless of the stage of their disease. In a home-like setting, people with cancer can connect with and learn from each other. Today, there are 21 Wellness Communities across the United States, five in development, 28 satellites within the United States, two centers abroad (Tokyo, Japan, and Tel Aviv, Israel), and The Virtual Wellness Community online. All TWC programs are provided free of charge.

Offering Free Support, Education, and Hope for Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers: The Wellness Community

Offering Free Support, Education, and Hope for Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers: The Wellness Community

A case of bone metastasis of colon cancer that markedly responded to S-1/CPT-11 combination chemotherapy and became curable by resection.

BackgroundAn oral combined fluoropyrimidine anticancer drug, tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil potassium (S-1), has recently been used alone or in combination for colon cancer.Case presentationThe patient was a 42-year-old man with sigmoid colon cancer with direct invasion of the urinary bladder and multiple costal metastases. A diagnosis of T4, M1, stage IV sigmoid colon cancer was made, and curative resection was considered impossible. S-1 at 50 mg/m2 was administered by oral route from day 1 to day 14. Irinotecan (CPT-11) at 40 mg/m2 was administered by intravenous day 1 and 15. This treatment was followed by 2 weeks absent period, and repeated every 4 weeks. Six cycles of administration were performed in total. Following this treatment, the multiple costal metastases resolved. Down-staging to T3, M0, stage IIA was achieved, and curative resection was judged to be possible.ConclusionOccasional cases in which S-1/CPT-11 therapy was effective have been recently reported. The patient's tumor became resectable despite the discovery of colon cancer associated with bone metastasis at the initial examination, offering hope for cancer patients.

The Relationships Between Satisfaction with Social Support, Affect Balance, and Hope in Cancer Patients

The present study investigated relationships between cancer patients' satisfaction with social support, and their affect and levels of hope. Cancer patients completed measures describing their hope and affect, and a structured interview was conducted to ascertain their level of satisfaction with the support they were receiving. Results indicated that support satisfaction accounted for a statistically significant proportion of the variance in patient hope and affect, although other variables emerged as more powerful predictors.

Reframing hope: meaning-centered care for patients near the end of life. Interview by Karen S. Heller.

979 Dr. William Breitbart, chief of the Psychiatry Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, describes his current research on a meaning-centered psychotherapeutic intervention that he has designed in order to help terminally ill patients with cancer sustain hope and meaning as they approach the end of their lives. Drawing inspiration and ideas from the works of psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, Dr. Breitbart and his fellow, Dr. Mindy Greenstein, designed an 8-week, group-focused, manualized course of experiential exercises, which is being compared to an 8-week, manualized cancer support group intervention, to see how well meaning-focused care can address a constellation of constructs that he and his colleagues are calling “despair at the end of life.” The component constructs of despair at the end of life include hopelessness, depression, loss of meaning, suicidal ideation, and desire for hastened death. In the following interview with Innovations Associate Editor Karen S. Heller, Dr. Breitbart describes the conceptual evolution of his thinking about despair at the end of life, and details the research on meaning-centered psychotherapy in which he is now engaged. Although the study is still ongoing, preliminary findings suggest that although both types of group intervention reduce patients’ psychological distress and depression and enhance social support, the meaning-centered intervention is more effective in increasing spiritual well-being and a sense of meaning, and in reducing hopelessness and desire for death.

The relationship of pain, uncertainty, and hope in Taiwanese lung cancer patients

The impact of cancer pain on the quality of life of lung cancer patients is obvious, but the relationship of cancer pain to uncertainty and level of hope in cancer patients is not clear and has been the subject of only a few studies. The purpose of this study is to look at the relationship of pain to uncertainty and hope in Taiwanese lung cancer patients. A cross-sectional and descriptive correlational design was used in this study. A convenience sample of lung cancer patients was recruited from chest medicine and oncology inpatient units at three teaching hospitals in the Taipei area of Taiwan. The research instruments included the Brief Pain Inventory-Chinese version (BPI-C), Mishel's Uncertainty Illness Scale (MUIS), and the Herth Hope Index (HHI). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression. A total of 164 subjects were recruited, including 79 patients with cancer pain and 85 patients without cancer pain. The major findings were: 1) there were significant differences in level of uncertainty and level of hope between patients with cancer pain and those without. Patients with cancer pain reported higher levels of uncertainty and lower levels of hope than did patients without cancer pain; 2) pain severity was not significantly related to level of uncertainty; however, pain interference with daily life was positively correlated to level of uncertainty; 3) both pain severity and pain interference were negatively correlated with level of hope; and 4) after controlling for pain severity and pain interference, uncertainty was a significant predictor of level of hope. Important implications for future studies are discussed.

Researchers offer hope for cancer patients

Researchers offer hope for cancer patients

Nursing intervention to increase hope in cancer patients.

Hope is considered to be of great significance for people diagnosed as having cancer, and is thus an important aspect of nursing care. It is therefore of value to document ways in which hope can be strengthened in these patients. An intervention programme based on Nowotny's (1986) definition of hope and designed to increase hope in groups of cancer patients with the nurse as the group leader was developed. The intervention was divided into eight sessions, each of which focused on a different aspect of hope. These included: belief in oneself and one's own ability, emotional reactions, relationships with others, active involvement, spiritual beliefs and values, and acknowledging that there is a future. By focusing on these aspects through interactional processes in the group, it was thought that the participants' hope could be strengthened.

Facilitating Hopefulness

Defining hope can be as illusive as spooning fog. However, without hope the desire to go on living is lost. Despite the paucity of research on the connections between hope and social and psychological functioning, recent research has pointed to hope as a primary element in helping cancer patients maintain a sense of control while suffering from the physical and psychological wounds of cancer. Although the process of hope has been elaborated in the literature, relatively little is known about the determinants of hope and how these factors interact to foster or inhibit the existence and nurturance of hope in cancer patients. The authors' primary purpose was to build a model of the determinants of hope using path analysis. These results were based on a cross-sectional survey of 194 outpatients: 96 with ocular melanoma and 98 with head and neck cancer. The resulting empirical model emphasized the importance of locus of control as either a direct determinant of hope or a factor that buffers distress and buttresses coping. The model also underscored the role that demographic characteristics-specifically age, sex, occupation, and education-play as determinants of hope. The contributions of coping and physical and psychosocial functioning also were pinpointed as indirect determinants of hope. Contrary to the literature and the hypothesized model, coping difficulties did not have a direct impact on hope and actual social support was a determinant of hope either directly or indirectly.

1396b Hope in cancer patients—an important issue

During the last years more and more people are diagnosed with cancer. Hope enables people to cope with difficult situations and suffering. Hope is frequently referred to as an important strategy in coping with a disease such as cancer, and as an important aspect in nursing care. The objectives of this paper are to (1) give a review of the importance ofhope for cancer patients and (2) suggest one type of nursing intervention that might strengthen the hope in cancer patients. The following six attributes are often stressed in definitions of hope: active involvement, the relationship to others, spiritual beliefs and faith, see that the future is possible, confidence and the affective dimension (comes from within). Based on this definition of hope an intervention program is made. This intervention is now evaluated in cancer patients.

Gene link brings hope for cancer patients

Gene link brings hope for cancer patients

Recalled life expectancy information, phase of illness and hope in cancer patients.

In this study two research questions were addressed: What is the relationship between recalled life expectancy information and hope in cancer patients? What effect does phase of illness have on the level of hope in cancer patients? A scale to measure hope was developed, used, and evaluated. In 55 cancer patients, an analysis of variance showed a significant main effect on hope for recalled life expectancy; difference in level of hope was found in cancer patients at different phases of illness. The findings indicated that individuals having no recollection of receiving information regarding their prognosis were more hopeful. The results have implications for determining what, how much, when, and how to communicate life expectancy information to patients who have cancer or other life-threatening illnesses.