Psychosocial Correlates of Survival in Advanced Malignant Disease?

Abstract

Prospective studies of the general population have isolated specific social and psychological factors as independent predictors of longevity. This study assesses the ability of these factors, plus two others said to influence survival in patients with cancer, to predict survival and the time to relapse after a diagnosis of cancer. Patients with unresectable cancers (n = 204) were followed to determine the length of survival. Patients with Stage I or II melanoma or Stage II breast cancer (n = 155) were followed to determine the time to relapse. Analysis of data on these 359 patients indicates that social and psychological factors individually or in combination do not influence the length of survival or the time to relapse (P less than 0.10). The specific diagnosis (F = 2.0, P = 0.06), performance status (F = 0.66, P = 0.62), extent of disease (F = 1.12, P = 0.89), and therapy (F = 1.08, P = 0.35) were also unrelated to the psychosocial factors studied. Although these factors may contribute to the initiation of morbidity, the biology of the disease appears to predominate and to override the potential influence of life-style and psychosocial variables once the disease process is established.

Quality-of-Life Assessment in Oncology

“…In some of these studies, HR QL was found to be even more predictive of survival than known biologic prognostic factors (36, 40 -43). It should be noted, however, that in a few other studies no signi cant relationship was found between H R QL and time to death (45,46). There is some dispute about the explanation of these contradictory ndings.…”

What Is an Exceptional Cancer Trajectory?: Multiple Stakeholder Perspectives on Cancer Trajectories in Relation to Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use

“…12 Popular literature about exceptional recoveries, for example, books such as Bernie Siegel's 1 popular Love, Medicine and Miracles and Carl Simonton's 15 Getting Well Again propose a potential link between psychosocial variables and prolonged survival, a relationship that has also been investigated in the scientific literature. 16,17 Conclusions from research investigating the role of psychosocial variables in survival are inconsistent. In the mid-1980s, Cassileth et al stated that "the inherent biology of the disease alone determines the prognosis, overriding the potentially mitigating influence of psychosocial factors," 16(p1555) whereas Berland argued 10 years later that there is "growing consensus" that "biological (that is, immunological) functions cannot be separated from psychological factors."…”

An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the patient experience of awake craniotomy: Brain tumour diagnosis to discharge

“…This could also lead to a decrease in emotional burden (Bradley et al 2007) as by having the awake craniotomy patients may not suffer many of the psychosocial effects reported in brain tumour research (Armstrong, 2004;Bradley et al 2007;Cassileth, Lusk, Miller, Brown, & Miller, 1985;Khalili, 2007).…”