For Immediate Use Oct. 13, 1999
Kim Irwin ([email protected])
(310) 206-2805
Kambra McConnel ([email protected])
(310) 206-3769
UCLA CANCER RESEARCHERS SEEKING LONG-TERM CANCER SURVIVORS FOR UNIQUE QUALITY OF LIFE STUDY
Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center are seeking long-term adult cancer survivors for a first-of-its-kind study to gather information on the physical and psychological effects of cancer long after diagnosis and treatment.
The study, being conducted by the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center, is funded through a grant from the National Cancer Institute. Study participants will be asked to undergo a confidential, one-hour interview, conducted either at UCLA or at a location more convenient for volunteers.
Researchers are seeking survivors of invasive breast, colorectal or prostate cancers and Hodgkin's or non-Hodgkin's lymphomas who are five to 10 years out from initial diagnosis, said Beth Leedham, a clinical psychologist and co-principal investigator in the study. Dr. Patricia Ganz, director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research and an expert in quality of life research, also is a co-principal investigator.
The confidential interview will include questions that assess the participants' experiences with cancer and their current quality of life, Leedham said. Participants must have been diagnosed with cancer as adults, be cancer-free now and speak fluent English.
Results from the study will be used to design a new method to assess quality of life among long-term cancer survivors. Leedham said little is known about how the disease affects the large population of surviving cancer patients many years after their diagnosis and treatment. The American Cancer Society estimates there are 10 million people alive today who have had cancer.
"Although a great deal of research has examined quality of life over the short term after a cancer diagnosis, little is known about the long-term effects, both physical and psychosocial, of cancer and its treatments," said Leedham. "Consequently, doctors don't have the information they need to educate their patients about what they can expect over the long term."
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2-2-2-2 SURVIVORS SOUGHT FOR UNIQUE STUDY
Leedham said the study also is unique in that it examines quality of life from a developmental perspective -- assessing what cancer does to people at different ages and stages in their lives from adult to old age.
"We will assess long-term survivors from across the age span, to learn more about how quality of life is impacted when cancer happens at a difficult time," Leedham said.
For example, a cancer diagnosis in young adulthood may have a much different physical and psychological impact on a patient than such a diagnosis would much later in life, Leedham said. A cancer diagnosis can interfere with major developmental tasks, such as forming romantic attachments or having children, she said.
UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center is the only institution nationwide researching how cancer affects long-term survivors differently at different stages of life, Leedham said.
In addition to those interviewed in person, a second phase of the study will include hundreds more long-term cancer survivors, who will receive a survey by mail. The results of the first phase study will be available by summer of the year 2000, Leedham said.
Long-term survivors who participate in the in-person interviews will receive $20 for their time. Leedham said the study seeks both the positive and negative effects that cancer can have on patients' lives.
"The issue of positive adjustment is a hot topic lately in the context of achievements by Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and others who have been diagnosed with cancer at a young age and who have coped with it by finding positive meaning," Leedham said.
For more information on the Jonsson Cancer Center study, or to volunteer to take part, call (310) 794-9237.
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For more information about UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center, its people and resources, visit our site on the World Wide Web at http://www.cancer.mednet.ucla.edu.
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