Cancer patients have 'good' quality of life

Cancer sufferers report a 'good 'quality of life

Cancer sufferers and their families cope better with diagnosis than previously thought, scientists have found.

Two reports by researchers from Australia and America studied the children of breast cancer sufferers and the survivors of gynaecological cancer.

They found that despite the many physical and emotional struggles faced by cancer patients that survivors reported a good quality of life that was higher than expected by doctors.

There is a misconception...that the quality of life of cancer patients must be worse than that of the general population

Doctor Robyn Leake

And children were able to cope with bad news when their mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Dr Robyn Leake, of the King Edward Memorial Hospital, in Western Australia, said cancer patients, with a low risk of their gynaecological cancer recurring, had been quizzed about their quality of life.

They were asked to rank their quality of life from one to seven and consistently placed themselves higher than their doctors predicted.

Researchers found that 149 said their quality of life had either improved or remained the same and the other 44 reported an expected deterioration.

Resilience levels

Dr Leake said: "There is a misconception amongst the general public and health professionals that the quality of life of cancer patients must be worse than that of the general population."

The second study by Dr Lizbeth Hoke, at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, looked at how children aged between eight to 16 coped with their mother being diagnosed with breast cancer.

She said her study of 52 families with children whose mothers had either breast cancer or benign tumours, showed children were capable of coping with bad news.

'Worries'

"This study did not find evidence that children of mothers in the initial diagnostic and treatment phases of breast cancer had increased adjustment problems when compared with children whose mothers were not serious ill.

"Children often have questions and worries when a parent is ill, and they may feel confused and unable to talk about their feelings.

"Parents need to be aware of their children's responses and talk with them about their experiences, in order to help them cope with the effects of the illness on the family."

Both studies appear in the September issue of Psycho-Oncology.