The purpose of this article is to (1) provide a comprehensive overview and discussion of mindfulness meditation and its clinical applicability in oncology and (2) report and critically evaluate the existing and emerging research on mindfulness meditation as an intervention for cancer patients. Using relevant keywords, a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and Ovid was completed along with a review of published abstracts from the annual conferences sponsored by the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society and the American Psychosocial Oncology Society. Each article and abstract was critiqued and systematically assessed for purpose statement or research questions, study design, sample size, characteristics of subjects, characteristics of mindfulness intervention, outcomes, and results. The search produced 9 research articles published in the past 5 years and 5 conference abstracts published in 2004. Most studies were conducted with breast and prostate cancer patients, and the mindfulness intervention was done in a clinic-based group setting. Consistent benefitsimproved psychological functioning, reduction of stress symptoms, enhanced coping and well-being in cancer outpatients-were found. More research in this area is warranted: using randomized, controlled designs, rigorous methods, and different cancer diagnoses and treatment settings; expanding outcomes to include quality of life, physiological, health care use, and health-related outcomes; exploring mediating factors; and discerning dose effects and optimal frequency and length of home practice. Mindfulness meditation has clinically relevant implications to alleviate psychological and physical suffering of persons living with cancer. Use of this behavioral intervention for oncology patients is an area of burgeoning interest to clinicians and researchers.

With improved cancer survival rates, it is becoming increasingly important to focus on quality of life issues throughout all stages of cancer treatment. Sexual problems often result from the physical and psychological side effects associated with cancer and cancer treatment regimens, yet few cancer patients recall discussing sexual risks before treatment or treatment options for sexual dysfunction after treatment. This review summarizes the literature, to date, on patient and clinician communication about sexual dysfunction. Patients' views about the importance of these discussions and patient and clinician barriers to sexual dysfunction communication are presented. We adapted a behavioral health counseling model, the 5 A's, and present it as a proposed framework for sexual health communication with cancer patients in a multidisciplinary setting.

No abstract

We examined the association between different types of prayer and depressive symptoms—with rumination and social support as potential mediators—in a sample of predominantly White, Christian, and female ambulatory cancer patients. In a cross-sectional design, 179 adult cancer outpatients completed measures of prayer, rumination, social support, depressive symptoms, and demographic variables. Type and stage of cancer were collected from electronic medical charts. Depressive symptoms were negatively correlated with adoration prayer (r = −.15), reception prayer (r = −.17), thanksgiving prayer (r = −.29), and prayer for the well-being of others (r = −.26). In the path analysis, rumination fully mediated the link between thanksgiving prayer and depressive symptoms (β for indirect effect = −.05), whereas social support partially mediated the link between prayer for others and depressive symptoms (β for indirect effect = −.05). These findings suggest that unique mechanisms may link different prayer types to lower depressive symptoms among cancer patients.