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Mental adjustment to first recurrence and correlated factors in patients with breast cancer

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Abstract

Previous reports have demonstrated that breast cancer patients felt that news of their recurrence was more upsetting than their initial diagnosis. However, no studies have examined the factors that are correlated with mental adjustment in breast cancer patients who experienced recurrence. The authors investigated factors that are correlated with mental adjustment styles of fighting spirit or helplessness/hopelessness in women with breast cancer with a first recurrence. Fifty-five participants were interviewed and completed the Mental Adjustment to Cancer scale. Factors that correlated significantly with fighting spirit were performance status and history of major depression, while factors that correlated significantly with helplessness/hopelessness were age, pain, and history of major depression. These findings suggest that it is necessary to provide intervention for first recurrent breast cancer patients who have such biomedical factors, as young age, poor performance status, pain, and history of major depression to help them better cope with cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psycho-Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute East, Japan

    Yoshie Okano, Hitoshi Okamura, Tatsuo Akechi & Yosuke Uchitomi

  2. Department of Adult Nursing/Terminal and Long-term Care Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo

    Yoshie Okano & Keiko Kazuma

  3. Psychiatry Division, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Japan

    Hitoshi Okamura & Yosuke Uchitomi

  4. Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Japan

    Toru Watanabe, Masaru Narabayashi, Noriyuki Katsumata, Masashi Ando & Isamu Adachi

  5. Japan

    Tatsuo Akechi

Authors
  1. Yoshie Okano
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  2. Hitoshi Okamura
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  3. Toru Watanabe
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  4. Masaru Narabayashi
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  5. Noriyuki Katsumata
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  6. Masashi Ando
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  7. Isamu Adachi
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  8. Keiko Kazuma
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  9. Tatsuo Akechi
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  10. Yosuke Uchitomi
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Okano, Y., Okamura, H., Watanabe, T. et al. Mental adjustment to first recurrence and correlated factors in patients with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 67, 255–262 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017942709369

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