Almost half of cancer survivors have ill health in later years
Forty-five per cent of cancer survivors in Northern Ireland suffer from physical and mental health problems years after their treatment has finished, according to new research from Macmillan Cancer Support and Queen's University Belfast.
The report, the first of its kind in Northern Ireland, also found cancer survivors and their carers are more likely to access health services than the general population.
The research highlighted that so-called "late effects" of cancer and its treatment can include nerve damage, lymphoedema, extreme tiredness, memory problems and severe depression.
The report also found that 40 per cent of cancer survivors say they have unmet health care and social care needs. Caregivers were also just as likely to report poor physical and mental health as cancer survivors.
The study found people who have had a cancer diagnosis reported more visits to their GP, more visits to the hospital, and more illnesses than the general population, often years following treatment.
With the number of people being diagnosed with cancer set to double by 2030, Macmillan says the report provides further evidence that action must now be taken to transform how health care is delivered.
Macmillan's General Manager in Northern Ireland, Heather Monteverde, said: "Patients are living longer following their cancer diagnosis due to earlier detection, screening and better treatment.
"However, this report clearly shows that many cancer survivors continue to have poorer health often many years after completion of treatment. The fact that 40 per cent say they have unmet needs has significant implications for the future design and provision of cancer services across Northern Ireland.
"Of particular concern are issues around the health of carers who have also reported very similar levels of poor physical and mental health. The number of people living with cancer is growing every year so it is essential changes are made now to avoid serious problems in the future."
Dr Olinda Santin, from Queen's University Belfast, said: "While the majority of cancer survivors make a good recovery from their cancer, there are number of patients and their carers who may require additional support.
"There is a need for further research and service development to identify and support those groups of cancer survivors and caregivers who are affected by poorer health and well-being and who have unmet needs or experience late effects of their treatment."
The report found cancer survivors reported lower health and wellbeing scores than those who hadn't had cancer. They scored lower in areas including physical function, physical limitations, mental health and social functioning.
A quarter of cancer survivors said they believed there was a need for better co-ordinated care, while just over a fifth (21 per cent) said they needed more support to manage their anxiety about their cancer returning.
The report also found that 25 per cent of carers spend more than 22 hours per week providing care, often many years after treatment has finished.
Building on similar research elsewhere in the UK by Macmillan, the report shows people often experience serious health problems years after the end of their cancer treatment.
Provided by Queen's University Belfast
-
Partners of cancer survivors at risk for depression
Apr 07, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Young women warned of lung cancer risks
Apr 03, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Sexual orientation affects cancer survivorship
May 09, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Childhood cancer survivors in poor health at greater risk for unemployment in adulthood
Aug 15, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Cancer survivors spend more on health care
Jun 13, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
How can there be villous adenoma in colon, if there are no villi there
1 hour ago
-
How can there be a term called "intestinal metaplasia" of stomach
May 21, 2013
-
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
May 18, 2013
-
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
May 17, 2013
-
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013
-
Ratio of Hydrogen of Oxygen in Dessicated Animal Protein
May 13, 2013
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Cancer survivors need more support to stop smoking and drinking
Cancer survivors are no more likely to stop smoking, cut down on alcohol, or exercise more often than the general population, according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer today (Wednesday)
Cancer
50 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
Beta-blockers may boost chemo effect in childhood cancer
Beta-blockers, normally used for high blood pressure, could enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapies in treating neuroblastoma, a type of children's cancer, according to a new study published in the British Jo ...
Cancer
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
0
Japan hospital tests powerful breast cancer therapy
A Japanese cancer specialist said Wednesday she has started the world's first clinical trial of a powerful, non-surgical, short-term radiation therapy for breast cancer.
Cancer
1 hour ago |
not rated yet |
0
Small cancer risk following CT scans in childhood and adolescence confirmed
The gap between life expectancy in patients with a mental illness and the general population has widened since 1985 and efforts to reduce this gap should focus on improving physical health, suggest researchers in a paper ...
Cancer
14 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Changing cancer's environment to halt its spread
By studying the roles two proteins, thrombospondin-1 and prosaposin, play in discouraging cancer metastasis, a trans-Atlantic research team has identified a five-amino acid fragment of prosaposin that significantly reduces ...
Cancer
15 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
A molecular explanation for age-related fertility decline in women
(Medical Xpress)—Scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health have a new theory as to why a woman's fertility declines after her mid-30s. They also suggest an approach that might help slow ...
Medical researchers discover new ways to target, develop and design drugs to prevent and treat viral infection
Researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered a new drug target, developed a new drug and identified a new way to design drugs—all of which could be a winning combination in the battle against viruses.
Alcohol sales fall due to ban on multi-buy promotions
(Medical Xpress)—A report published today shows a 2.6% decrease in the amount of alcohol sold per adult in Scotland in the year following the introduction of the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Act in October 2011.
Ethicists' behavior not more moral, study finds
(Medical Xpress)—Do ethicists engage in better moral behavior than other professors? The answer is no. Nor are they more likely than nonethicists to act according to values they espouse, according to researchers from the ...
Succesful results in developing oral vaccine against diarrhea
The University of Gothenburg Vaccine Research Institute (GUVAX) announces successful results in a placebo controlled phase I study of an oral, inactivated Escherichia coli diarrhea vaccine.
American, Nepalese kids a world apart on social duties
(Medical Xpress)—Preschoolers universally recognize that one's choices are not always free – that our decisions may be constrained by social obligations to be nice to others or follow rules set by parents ...