Cancer recurrence: perspectives of hospital staff on the difficulties of pediatric patients

Abstract

In pediatric oncology, the survival rate has risen considerably, and nowadays the probability of cure is very high. However, the process of fighting the disease can suffer some setbacks, namely a relapse. This event is responsible for high suffering, which may be even greater than dealing with the diagnosis of cancer. Aiming to understand the perceptions of oncology professionals regarding the main difficulties experienced by children/adolescents whose cancer relapsed, the authors developed a study in which the professionals’ perspective was explored. A group of 17 professionals (from the areas of health, social work, psychology and education), working in two Portuguese hospitals, was interviewed. Their reflections indicated that the main difficulties during relapse were the acceptance of having to undergo such a - physically and psychologically - painful process all over again, and among adolescents, who are more aware of the severity of the disease and its implications, also difficulties in keeping up hope. Among the youngest, professional pointed out as more common the difficulty in understanding why they have to be resubmitted to such painful treatments and be parted from their life contexts. Emphasizing recurrence as a particularly challenging stage of the oncologic disease, this study brings a multifocal view of a group of professionals who closely follow these children/adolescents (and their families) all the way trough. Their long and diverse experience - in terms of type of cancer, evolution of the disease, age and/or temperament of the patients (and the parents’ themselves) - make these professionals key informants in the mapping of the difficulties related to the pediatric oncological relapse, as well as in the design and implementation of more adjusted responses to the phenomenology of these processes.

Keywords: pediatric psycho-oncology; relapse, phenomenology; healthcare staff