This study was supported by the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique-FNRS under Grant n°s 7.4604.16F and 7.6523.18F of Brussels, Belgium, the Fonds Suzanne Duchesne, and Les Amis de l'Institut Bordet. Pauline WAROQUIER was a Grant F.R.S.-FNRS-Télévie of the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique-FNRS. The authors would like to thank the Commission Communautaire Commune (COCOM) for supporting the intervention. The authors would also like to thank all the participating patients and the breast clinic and radiotherapy teams from the Institut Jules Bordet. The study sponsors served no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, or data interpretation; or in the preparation, review, or report approval.
Purpose of reviewThe purpose of this article is to review the formats and techniques of psychological interventions designed for patients with metastatic cancer and prolonged survival expectancies.Recent findingsFifteen interventional studies were selected for this article. One group of psychological interventions focused primarily on patients’ adaptation by increasing their knowledge, developing patients’ stress management skills, promoting their open communication with healthcare providers, and helping them deal with existential concerns. Another group of interventions focused on patients with moderate and high levels of distress. These interventions provided specific techniques to manage anxiety, depression, fear of cancer progression, and existential distress. Interestingly, interventions targeting distressed patients are not necessarily longer or more intensive than interventions targeting adaptation. The interventions were examined in few randomized controlled trials, and incorporated a broad range of techniques, making comparison of their efficacy difficult. No intervention specifically targeted patients newly diagnosed with metastatic cancer.SummaryOn the basis of this review, we proposed suggestions according to patients’ levels of distress, which differ in intensity, format, techniques, and tools offered. These suggestions may be relevant for the future development and assessment of interventions targeting patients with newly diagnosed metastatic cancer and prolonged survival expectancies.
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