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Online Resources

Cancer Management:  A Multidisciplinary Approach has recently been published and is available free online (free registration required on website). It includes five chapters on palliative and supportive care. It is also available for purchase in hard copy.
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Back in the Swing
A national advocacy organization for breast cancer survivors.
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Continuing Education


Yale

Schwartz Rounds
Schwartz Rounds will resume in September in a new location: the new Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven. (CME)
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Yale Bioethics Center End of Life Issues Group will resume in September (CME)
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September 17-19
First Annual Navigation & Survivorship Conference
Academy of Oncology Nurse Navigators.  Baltimore. (CNE)
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September 25
9th Annual Oncology Nursing Symposium
Smilow Cancer Hospital.  Details to follow. (CNE)




Elsewhere
November 5 - 6
Quality of Life for the Children
4th Annual Pediatric Palliative Care Conference.  Washington, DC.
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Online
July (Various dates & times)
Safe Prescribing of Opioids, Zero Unintentional Deaths
American Pain Foundation live webinar.  (Not accredited for CME or contact hours).
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July  2010          Volume 4 � No 6
Survivorship "Themes"

There is a growing body of research on the needs - both observed and expressed - of cancer survivors.  Age, gender, type of cancer and its treatment, as well as where one fits in the cancer trajectory, have a lot to do with those needs.  Survivorship needs for an individual will evolve or change over time.

The target population for the Connecticut Challenge Survivorship Clinic at Yale Cancer Center is adults who have completed primary cancer treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy) and are cancer-free.  Many of these survivors will continue on maintenance or preventive treatments for months to years as they recover from the disease and its primary treatments.  The Clinic has two primary areas of focus:  recovery and follow-up, and health promotion within the context of a diagnosis of cancer.  The Clinic staff complements and reinforces established relationships with oncologists and primary care or other specialty providers.

The clinicians in the Connecticut Challenge Survivorship Clinic have identified several familiar "themes" that have emerged as illustrations of common needs among the participants in the multidisciplinary clinic.  They use five of these themes to highlight both the breadth of needs and the collaborative approach that they use to educate and counsel participants.

The five common themes are: 
  • "I'm worried about the cancer coming back.  Is there anything I can do?" (Theme: Fear of Recurrence)
  • "I'm so tired!"  (Theme: Fatigue)
  • "I must have brought this on myself somehow." (Theme: Guilt)
  • "I'm starting back to work soon.  I'm looking forward to it, but I'm nervous, too.  What if my boss expects too much of me at first?  I've developed some healthy habits after my treatment and I'm afraid I won't have time or will get too busy to continue them." (Theme:  Concerns about returning to work)
  • "Other people (kids, spouse, friends, boss, co-workers) have these expectations of how I should be, act, and feel now that I'm 'over' the cancer.  They really don't get it." (Theme: Managing (unrealistic) expectations of self and others)
Over the next few months each of these themes and the collaborative approach to addressing them will be discussed in this space.
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In the News

The Connecticut Challenge - Riders and Volunteers
The Connecticut Challenge bicycle ride to raise money for survivorship programs throughout Connecticut will be held on Saturday, July 24 in Fairfield. It's not too late to sign up as a rider.  Please consider joining or supporting the Yale, Smilow, and Friends Team! There are also many roles for volunteers.  Volunteers are invaluable: without them, we couldn't ride.  Without donors the Challenge wouldn't be able to support clinics, education, research, and advocacy for cancer survivors.
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Dr. Tara Sanft to Join Yale Cancer Center
Dr. Tara Sanft will join Yale Cancer Center on August 1st as Assistant Professor of Medicine in Medical Oncology and Medical Director of Adult Survivorship for the Connecticut Challenge Survivorship Clinic.

Dr. Sanft's research efforts are focused on palliative care and pain management, geriatric cancer care, and special needs of cancer survivors resulting from long-term side effects of cancer treatment.  In addition to her research responsibilities, Dr. Sanft will be an active member of the Yale Cancer Center Breast Cancer Program.  Before joining Yale Cancer Center, Dr. Sanft was the Chief Fellow in oncology and palliative care at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
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Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment: Breast and Ovarian Cancer
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has published a guideline for "Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment: Breast and Ovarian Cancer."  See also article by Daly, et al., in Journal Watch, below.
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New program: The Palliative Care Faculty Development Program
Palliative Care Faculty Development Program (PC-FDP), the End of Life/Palliative Care Education Resource Center (EPERC), and the Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care (HMS CPC) announced a new program, the Palliative Care Faculty Development Program. Medical schools and/or teaching hospitals affiliated with a medical school are invited to apply for this program, funded by the Y.C. Ho/Helen and Michael Chiang Foundation.  The purpose of this project is to train faculty from multiple departments to lead palliative care educational change projects in the clinical setting across the spectrum of medical education (students, residents, fellows, and faculty) and to serve as ongoing resources for future change at their institutions.

Application deadline is August 13, 2010.
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Journal Watch

A supplement to the June issue of Pain Management Nursing (11(2-Supp 1)) is devoted to pain in elders.
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Daly MB, et al.  Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment: Breast and Ovarian.  Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.  2010; 8(5):562-594.
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Gallagher R.  Palliative Care Files:  Killing the Symptom without Killing the Patient.  CMAJ.  2010;56(6):544-546.
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Goodwin PJ, Pritchard KI.  Obesity and Hormone Therapy in Breast Cancer: An Unfinished Puzzle.  Journal of Clinical Oncology.  2010 Jun 14.
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Malloy P, et al.  Beyond Bad News: Communication Skills of Nurses in Palliative Care. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing.  2010;12(3):166-174.  (CNE)
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Morgan S, et al.  Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll: Caring for Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer.  Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2010 May 24.
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Reeder JG, Brufsky AM.  The Role of Bisphosphonates in the Adjuvant Setting for Breast Cancer.  Oncology.  2010;24(6):462-467,475. Article reviewed 475-480 & 480-485.
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Sestak I, et al.  Effect of Body Mass Index on Recurrences in Tamoxifen and Anastrozole Treated Women: An Exploratory Analysis From the ATAC Trial.  Journal of Clinical Oncology 2010 Jun 14.
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Smith TJ et al.  Giving Honest Information to Patients With Advanced Cancer Maintains Hope.  Oncology.  2010;24(6):  521-525.
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Smoot B, et al.  Upper Extremity Impairments in Women With or Without Lymphedema Following Breast Cancer Treatment.  Journal of Cancer Survivorship.  2010;4(2): 167-178.
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Starr TD, et al.  Substance Abuse in Cancer Pain.  Current Pain and Headache Reports.  2010;14(4):268-275.
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Sudore RL, et al.  Sitting with You in Your Suffering: Lessons about Intractable Pain at the End of Life.  Journal of Palliative Medicine. May 2010.
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