This Article Full Text (PDF) eLetters: Submit a response to this article Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wharton, K. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wharton, K. L.

The Person With Cancer and Quality of Life

Psychologist, Instructor, Harvard University e-mail: Levinekare{at}aol.com

THE PERSON WITH CANCER AND QUALITY OF LIFE

To the Editor: I was pleased to read The Cancer Patient and Quality of Life, by Andrew Bottomley in the current issue of The Oncologist (2002;7:2) [1]. Dr. Bottomley discusses the importance and feasibility of incorporating quality-of-life (QOL) measures as an outcome variable for cancer treatments. This issue also includes the Commentary, Sleeping with the Enemy: Treating Fatigue in Individuals with Cancer, by my husband, Robert H. Wharton, about the role that stimulant medication has played in improving his and our family’s quality of life [2]. As both a psychologist and the wife of someone with lung cancer, it is exciting to see issues of QOL being increasingly acknowledged in cancer research as well as treatment.

It is a natural corollary from these two articles, as well as from what we know from the field of psychology, that not only should QOL be incorporated into research, but that other factors known to impact QOL should be evaluated and treated along with the medical treatments for cancer.

I would suggest a standard evaluation of HRQOL with specific treatment recommendations for all patients at some point soon after diagnosis. For example, for people who feel socially isolated, support groups and other types of community groups can be recommended. Depression should be actively considered for patients as well as their key family members. Further, full treatment options and plans should be initiated as early as possible. Psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and peer support groups should be seamlessly integrated with cancer centers for patients, their spouses, and their children. I would suggest further that these services should not only be available but their use should be discussed as a "normal" part of treatment for patients with cancer and their families.

Fortunately, my husband’s oncologist routinely addresses QOL issues, and the cancer center where he receives treatment also has resources available. Our family has benefited greatly from these resources and, in spite of my husband’s progressing cancer, we have all been able to enjoy unexpectedly remarkable QOL in the 2 years since his diagnosis.

REFERENCES

1. Bottomley A. The cancer patient and quality of life. The Oncologist 2002;7:120–125.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Wharton RH. Sleeping with the enemy: treatment of fatigue in individuals with cancer. The Oncologist 2002;7:96–99.[Free Full Text]

This Article Full Text (PDF) eLetters: Submit a response to this article Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wharton, K. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wharton, K. L.