Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Oct;5(4):241-9.
doi: 10.2217/cns-2016-0010. Epub 2016 Jul 11.

Psychosocial distress and its effects on the health-related quality of life of primary brain tumor patients

Dina Randazzo  1 , Katherine B Peters  1
Affiliations
Review

Psychosocial distress and its effects on the health-related quality of life of primary brain tumor patients

Dina Randazzo et al. CNS Oncol. 2016 Oct.

Abstract

All cancer patients experience distress from the diagnosis, the effects of the disease or the treatment. Clinically significant distress decreases overall quality of life and the recognition of distress with prompt intervention is essential. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network distress thermometer (NCCN-DT) is a validated measuring tool that has been utilized in the primary brain tumor population to detect psychologic distress thereby provoking a referral process to the appropriate support system. Brain tumor patients commonly reported emotional and physical distress encompassing: fatigue, fears, memory and concentration and worry. More research is needed to identify the stressors of all primary brain tumor patients and their caretakers and integrate appropriate interventions to improve health-related quality of life in both groups.

Keywords: brain; distress; psychosocial.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure

K Peters has served on advisory boards for Agios and Novocure. She has research support with Agios, EISAI, Genentech, Merck and VBL. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Figures

<b>Figure 1.</b>
Figure 1.. Algorithm for NCCN-DT and Problem List.
Data taken from the NCCN distress management guidelines version.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Carlson LE, Angen M, Cullum J, et al. High levels of untreated distress and fatigue in cancer patients. Br. J. Cancer. 2004;90(12):2297–2304. - PMC - PubMed

    2. •• Large study recognizing that cancer patients have high levels of distress and are not utilizing the resources available.

    1. Mitchell AJ, Chan M, Bhatti H, et al. Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorder in oncological, haematological, and palliative-care settings: a meta-analysis of 94 interview-based studies. Lancet Oncol. 2011;12(2):160–174. - PubMed
    1. Zabora J, Brintzenhofeszoc K, Curbow B, Hooker C, Piantadosi S. The prevalence of psychological distress by cancer site. Psychooncology. 2001;10(1):19–28. - PubMed
    1. Brown PD, Ballman KV, Rummans TA, et al. Prospective study of quality of life in adults with newly diagnosed high-grade gliomas. J. Neurooncol. 2006;76(3):283–291. - PubMed

    2. •• A study showing increased fatigue is an independent predictor of overall survival.

    1. Buckner JC, Schomberg PJ, McGinnis WL, et al. A phase III study of radiation therapy plus carmustine with or without recombinant interferon-alpha in the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed high-grade glioma. Cancer. 2001;92(2):420–433. - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources