Seven steps to longevity

and life quality after a cancer diagnosis

Taking control of your psychological and medical requirements is worth the effort to give yourself the best chance of living long and living with a good quality of life, after a diagnosis of cancer. Disease can make us feel like we’re a cork aimlessly bobbing along a river with no way of controlling our passage downstream or what’s around the next bend. In my experience as a person dealing with cancer, the more I understand what can help me for survival and the more things I can do to take control, the better I can handle it all. It’s about transforming from cork to in-control.

Psychologic interventions can improve survival after a cancer diagnosis.

A randomized clinical trial by Andersen et al 2008, tested the hypothesis that cancer patients coping with their recent diagnosis but receiving a psychologic intervention would have improved survival compared with patients who were only assessed and without intervention¹. After a median of 11 years of follow-up, the researchers found an altered disease course, a reduced risk of disease recurrence, and improved survival for the breast cancer patients randomized to receive the psychologic intervention.

What I think is hugely important about this study is that their follow-up analyses also demonstrated that Intervention patients had a reduced risk of death from all causes.

The goal of this intervention was to reduce distress and improve quality of life, improve health behaviors (diet, exercise, smoking cessation), and facilitate cancer treatment compliance and medical follow-up. Strategies included the following: progressive muscle relaxation for stress reduction, problem solving for common difficulties (eg, fatigue), identifying supportive family members or friends capable of providing assistance, using assertive communication to get one’s psychologic and medical needs met, strategies to increase daily activity (eg, walking, exercise), improving dietary habits (eg, lowering fat intake), and finding ways to cope with treatment side effects (eg, nausea) and maintain adherence to medical treatment and follow-up. They explain the mechanisms as:

“stress may have impacted disease processes via endocrine and immune pathways….studies using animal models (often with mammary cell tumor lines) have provided evidence of the effects of stress on tumor proliferation/angiogenesis, invasion, embolism/circulation, transport, and adhesion in organs or vessel wall structures, and there is evidence that these effects are directly mediated by stress hormones (eg, catecholamines).”

Ask yourself the following 7 questions to transform from cork to in-control. The more Yes’s the better you increase your own personal odds for life quality and longevity. Create your strategies to take control.

1. Do I spend time problem solving the effects of cancer?    Not yet, but I will  ☐  Yes ☐
2. Do I use any muscle relaxation exercises?                           Not yet, but I will  ☐  Yes ☐
3. Have I identified people who can assistance me?               Not yet, but I will  ☐  Yes ☐
4. Do I use assertive communication to get what I need?       Not yet but I will  ☐   Yes ☐
5. Do I have strategies to get me moving more?                    Not yet but I will  ☐    Yes ☐
6. Do I have a healthy diet?                                                     Not yet but I will  ☐    Yes ☐
7. Do I have strategies to ensure I complete my treatments? Not yet but I will  ☐    Yes ☐

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Reference

1.            Andersen BL, Yang HC, Farrar WB, et al. Psychologic Intervention Improves Survival for Breast Cancer Patients A Randomized Clinical Trial. Cancer. 2008;113(12):3450-3458.