Can we predict which head and neck cancer survivors develop fears of recurrence?

Patient Concerns Inventory for head and neck cancer: Brazilian cultural adaptation

“…The item selected most often by patients was fear of their cancer returning (also named fear of recurrence, FoR), followed by dry mouth, chewing/eating, and the indication for a speech therapist and dentist. Other studies that used the PCI-H&N have also found FoR to be the most common concern that patients with HNC want to discuss in clinics, 10,21,22 especially in patients aged less than 65 years, who seemed to experience more significant FoR, 23,24 which is in accordance with the findings of our study. Using the PCI during clinical routine practice seems to "allow"/facilitate patients to talk about this heavy burden with the clinical team, which is usually not addressed during consultation and may cause detrimental effects on patients psychological well-being.…”

Determinants of long-term quality of life in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma – a population-based cohort study in Sweden

“…The majority of long-term cancer survivors worry about a recurrence [20], which in itself carries more anxiety and fear of death [21,22] and may impair HRQoL [20]. In DTC concern of a recurrence is even more interesting, when the prognosis is very good compared to other cancer diseases.…”

The lived experience of dysphagia following non-surgical treatment for head and neck cancer

“…As a consequence, in more recent literature there has been increased consideration of the functional outcomes and changes to quality of life (QoL) associated with dysphagia in the HNC population (Llewellyn, Weinman, McGurk, & Humphris, 2008;Lovell, Wong, Loh, Ngo, & Wilson, 2005;Nguyen et al, 2005). Whilst such research has furthered our understanding of the impact of dysphagia following HNC management, the majority of studies to date have applied quantitative methods to measure the extent of functional change (Barringer, Hutcheson, Sturgis, Kies, & Lewin, 2009;Cartmill, Cornwell, Ward, Davidson, & Porceddu, 2011a;Cartmill et al, 2012;Jensen et al, 2007) or change in QoL (Lovell et al, 2005;Maurer et al, 2011;Nguyen et al, 2005).…”

“…Whilst such research has furthered our understanding of the impact of dysphagia following HNC management, the majority of studies to date have applied quantitative methods to measure the extent of functional change (Barringer, Hutcheson, Sturgis, Kies, & Lewin, 2009;Cartmill, Cornwell, Ward, Davidson, & Porceddu, 2011a;Cartmill et al, 2012;Jensen et al, 2007) or change in QoL (Lovell et al, 2005;Maurer et al, 2011;Nguyen et al, 2005). The value of taking a quantitative approach has been to confirm that a problem exists (Llewellyn et al, 2008;Lovell et al, 2005;Murry, Madasu, Martin, & Robbins, 1998;Nguyen et al, 2005). However, such studies have provided little understanding of the key factors that influence or impact on the daily life of people with dysphagia.…”