Stress and Long-Term Survivors of Brain Cancer

By Stephen T. Keir, Jonas J. Swartz, and Henry S. Friedman

Receiving a diagnosis of cancer and its subsequent treatment has been cited as being psychologically taxing, however, little is known about long-term psychological effects on cancer survivors.  A recent study conducted at the Tug McGraw Research Center at Duke documents that long-term survivors of brain cancer – (those surviving 18 months or more) – are just as likely to report themselves as stressed as other patients with brain tumors.¹ 

Though these long-term survivors report fewer numbers of concerns then other brain cancer patients, significant predictors for stress for these groups remain the same.  Unlike other cancer populations, time since diagnosis and treatment did not mitigate the stress effects of cancer.  Despite their long-term status elevated levels of stress continue across the disease trajectory for patients with brain tumors. 

For the complete details on this study, click here to view the PDF [127kb].

1. (Keir ST, Swartz JJ, Friedman HS. Stress and long-term survivors of brain cancer.
Support Care Cancer 2007.)