Addressing fear of cancer recurrence among women with cancer: a feasibility and preliminary outcome study

Lebel, Sophie; Maheu, Christine; Lefebvre, Monique; Secord, Scott; Courbasson, Christine; Singh, Mina; Jolicoeur, Lynne; Benea, Aronela; Harris, Cheryl; Fung, Michael Fung Kee; Rosberger, Zeev; Catton, Pamela

doi:10.1007/s11764-014-0357-3

Cited by 107 publications

(101 citation statements)

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“…The women of this study discussed medical follow-up appointments and perceived them as paradoxical-on the one hand triggering FCR and on the other as being reassuring. All 12 women identified feeling apprehension and anxiety leading up to their routine medical follow-ups and it acted as a trigger for their FCR, findings that are consistent with the literature (Lebel et al, 2014;Lewis et al, 2009b;Reb 2007). Furthermore, in congruence with previous studies, participants of this study reported symptoms such as insomnia, irritability, moodiness, tearfulness, depression, and difficulties with concentration and memory (Beaver & Luker, 2005;Lydon, Beaver, Newbery, & Wray, 2009;Ozga et al, 2015;Pennery & Mallet, 2000).…”

Section: The Paradoxical Medical Follow-upsupporting

confidence: 86%

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Fear of cancer recurrence: A study of the experience of survivors of ovarian cancer

Kyriacou¹,

Black²,

Drummond³

et al. 2017

CONJ

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236 INTRODUCTION Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of the gynecological cancers and has an average two-year recurrence rate of 50-75% (Ferrell et al., 2005;Ferrell, Smith, Ervin, Itano, & Melancon, 2003;Cannistra 2004;Karlan, Markman, & Eifel, 2005). Not surprisingly, given this high recurrence rate, fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a common and important concern reported by women diagnosed with ovarian cancer (Ozga, et al., 2015). FCR is defined as "fear that cancer could return or progress in the same place or in another part of the body" (Simard, Savard & Ivers, 2010;Vickberg, 2003). Unmanaged FCR can lead to anxiety, depression and change in quality of life, all leading to higher emotional, psychological and physical dysfunction (Ozga et al., 2015;Simard et al., 2013). Most studies that previously evaluated the evolution of FCR were conducted in breast cancer patients. To address the significant psychological concern associated with a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, there is a need to better understand the experience of FCR in women diagnosed with this disease (Ozga et al., 2015).Ovarian cancer is generally diagnosed at an advanced stage due to a lack of a screening tool, resulting in a five-year survival rate of 10-45% (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program, n.d.). According to the National Institutes of Health, a survivor is defined as "anyone who has ever been diagnosed with cancer and is living today" (NIH Senior Health, 2015). To date, only one recent systematic review on FCR in ovarian cancer survivor population has been conducted (Ozga et al., 2015). The results of that review (total of fifteen studies, three qualitative and nine quantitative) reported that FCR is an ovarian cancer-specific symptom and its importance is largely a reflection of the high recurrence rate. Due to the various methods of assessing presence of FCR, the reported prevalence range of 22-80% is broad. Furthermore, FCR levels are similar in participants regardless if they were diagnosed at an early or advanced stage. Presence of FCR was also associated with psychosocial health concerns such as hopelessness, anxiety in the context of death and dying and uncertainty surrounding health status. The poor prognosis for ovarian cancer survivors may explain the paucity of research focusing on the survivorship of these women and, consequently, the examination of their psychosocial needs remains in its infancy (Lockwood-Rayermann, 2006).Due to the high recurrence rate, the period of remission is brief and is, thus, frequently overlooked as a topic for research, making this the first study to qualitatively explore FCR in ovarian cancer survivors in this timeframe. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to better understand fear of cancer (FCR) through the experience of ovarian and fallopian tube cancer survivors. METHODS DesignThe study used a descriptive qualitative design to obtain a comprehensive description of participants' experiences in their own words (Sandelowski, 2000). Participants and RecruitmentParticipants were r...

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Section: The Paradoxical Medical Follow-upsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…A 13-question interview guide, based on the Model of Fear of Cancer Recurrence (MFCR; Lebel et al, 2014) was used to elicit answers about the women's emotions, thoughts and beliefs about FCR. For example, one question used was, "Can you describe a time when you remember feeling fearful about your risk of recurrence?…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear of cancer recurrence: A study of the experience of survivors of ovarian cancer

Kyriacou¹,

Black²,

Drummond³

et al. 2017

CONJ

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“…Un guide de treize questions, élaboré à partir du Modèle explicatif de la peur de récidive du cancer (Lebel et al, 2014), a été utilisé pour dresser le portrait des émotions, des pensées et des croyances entourant la peur de la récidive. À titre d'exemple, l'une des questions était « Pouvez-vous décrire un moment où vous avez eu peur que votre cancer récidive?…”

Section: Collecte De Donnéesunclassified

“…Les participantes à la pré-sente étude ont abordé la question du suivi médical, qu'elles percevaient comme paradoxal : d'un côté, il nourrissait la PRC et de l'autre, il rassurait. Les douze femmes ont dit ressentir de l'appréhension et de l'anxiété avant leurs visites de routine, ce qui intensifiait leur PRC; nos résultats concordent donc avec ceux de la littérature (Lebel et al, 2014;Lewis et al, 2009b;Reb, 2007). En outre, à l'instar des recherches antérieures, les participantes de cette étude ont rapporté des symptômes tels qu'insomnie, irritabilité, sautes d'humeur, larme facile, dépression et troubles de concentration et de mémoire (Beaver et Luker, 2005;Lydon, Beaver, Newbery et Wray, 2009;Ozga et al, 2015;Pennery et Mallet, 2000).…”

Section: Le Paradoxe Du Suivi Médicalunclassified

“…Enfin, comme le cancer des ovaires est considéré comme une maladie chronique, il faut s'intéresser davantage au soutien à la PRC. Des programmes formels, comme l'intervention infirmière en six séances, actuellement sous étude en clinique par Maheu et collaborateurs (2016), ont été mis à l'essai et ont fait leurs preuves : ils diminuent la PRC en aidant les femmes à abandonner leurs stratégies d'adaptation inadéquates et à adopter de meilleures pratiques (Lebel et al, 2014). Ces programmes devraient être disponibles pour tous les survivants du cancer qui vivent avec la PRC afin de leur rendre un sentiment de contrôle sur leur vie, ce qui leur permettra de gérer leur PRC de manière appropriée.…”

Section: Implications Pour La Recherche Et La Pratiqueunclassified

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Peur de la récidive : Étude de l’expérience vécue par les survivantes du cancer des ovaires

Kyriacou¹,

Black²,

Drummond³

et al. 2017

CONJ

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Developing an emotion‐focused therapy model for fear of cancer recurrence: A case‐level task analysis

Almeida

Elliott

Silva

et al. 2023

Couns and Psychother Res

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Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) involves anxiety about the possible return or progression of the disease. It is common among people surviving cancer, covering a range of adaptive and maladaptive responses including clinical presentations of FCR, for which different psychological interventions have been developed, most within the cognitive‐behavioural paradigm. Recently, emotion‐focused therapy (EFT) has been proposed as an alternative and has been the subject of research focusing on the cancer population and cancer‐related issues, including FCR. In this study, we looked closely at a successful case from a larger exploratory study, carrying out a discovery‐phase task analysis aimed at identifying the main components of EFT–FCR. We found that this approach generally followed the usual structure of an EFT intervention, with four distinct phases. However, we identified some specific secondary processes (e.g., hypervigilance and catastrophising) and clarified the nature of the core pain in this presentation as existential (e.g., fear of dying).

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Addressing fear of cancer recurrence among women with cancer: a feasibility and preliminary outcome study

Cited by 107 publications

References 50 publications

Fear of cancer recurrence: A study of the experience of survivors of ovarian cancer

Fear of cancer recurrence: A study of the experience of survivors of ovarian cancer

Peur de la récidive : Étude de l’expérience vécue par les survivantes du cancer des ovaires

Developing an emotion‐focused therapy model for fear of cancer recurrence: A case‐level task analysis

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