The findings of this study suggest that Iranian cancer patients experience a moderate to high level of posttraumatic growth and confirm the hypothesis that the level of posttraumatic growth in non-Western cancer patients is more than that of Western cancer patients. Although, assessing the reasons for this difference needs more investigations.

Recent advancement in detection and treatment of many types of malignant tumors lead to increase in the number of long-term cancer survivors (Bray et al., 2008;Khan et al., 2008). Traditionally, the cancer survivorship divided into three seasons including acute, extended, and permanent. However, today this term is extended and includes more seasons (Miller et al., 2008). The global burden of five year survival for cancer is reported as 28.8 million people in 2008 (Bray et al., 2008) and this number continue to increase each year (Siegel et al., 2012). By the way, because of delay in diagnosis of malignant tumors, the results of some studies reported that the overall survival rate for Iranian cancer patients is relatively poor (Rezaianzadeh et al., 2009;Sadjadi et al., 2009;Rezaianzadeh et al., 2012). But, it should be noted that there is no any valid statistic about the number of cancer survivors in Iran.The results of one systematic review showed that cancer survivors experience many problems such as physical, social, psychological, cognitive and sexual difficulties (Valdivieso et al., 2012). So, cancer survivors displayed lower levels of health and more burdens

Context:Nurse–patient communication is one of the important factors affects the promotion and maintenance of the dignity of cancer patients in the hospital settings.Aims:This study aimed to determine the perceptions of cancer patients regarding respecting their dignity and its correlation with nurse–patient communication in the hospital settings.Subjects and Methods:This correlational study was conducted on 250 cancer patients admitted to the Oncology Departments of Tabriz Shahid Ghazi University Hospital, Iran. These patients were selected using a convenience sampling method. The Patient Dignity Inventory and Nurse Quality of Communication with Patient Questionnaire were used for collecting the data.Statistical Analysis Used:Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied to the data.Results:The score of nurse–patient relationship is significantly correlated with patient's dignity score (R = −0.21, P = 0.001).Conclusions:Due to the importance of nurse–patient communication on maintenance of the dignity of cancer patients, it is a necessary requirement to take proper actions in this area, particularly by promoting “nurse's communication skills.”

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