|
Table of Contents Introduction
Overview
Phases of a Life-Threatening Illness
The Pathway to Death
Anticipatory Grief
Phases of Grief
Treatment
Complicated Grief
Children and Grief
Culture and Response to Grief and Mourning
Get More Information From NCI
Changes to This Summary (06/19/2006)
Questions or Comments About This Summary
About PDQ
Introduction
This patient summary on loss, grief, and bereavement is adapted from the
summary written for health professionals by cancer experts. This and other
credible information about cancer treatment, screening, prevention, supportive
care, and ongoing clinical trials, is available from the National Cancer
Institute. The passage from the final stage of cancer to the death of a loved
one is different for everyone. This summary describes loss, grief, and
bereavement; the stages of grief; and methods for coping with grief. This
summary also includes sections on children and grief.
Back to Top Overview
People cope with the loss of a loved one in many ways. For some, the
experience may lead to personal growth, even though it is a difficult and
trying time. There is no right way of coping with death. The way a person
grieves depends on the personality of that person and the relationship with the
person who has died. How a person copes with grief is affected by their
experience with cancer, the way the disease progressed, the person’s cultural
and religious background, coping skills, mental history, support systems, and
the person’s social and financial status.
The terms grief, bereavement, and mourning are often used in place of each
other, but they have different meanings.
Grief is the normal process of reacting to the loss. Grief reactions may be
felt in response to physical losses (for example, a death) or in response to
symbolic or social losses (for example, divorce or loss of a job). Each type
of loss means the person has had something taken away. As a family goes
through a cancer illness, many losses are experienced, and each triggers its
own grief reaction. Grief may be experienced as a mental, physical, social, or
emotional reaction. Mental reactions can include anger, guilt, anxiety,
sadness, and despair. Physical reactions can include sleeping problems,
changes in appetite, physical problems, or illness. Social reactions can
include feelings about taking care of others in the family, seeing family or
friends, or returning to work. As with bereavement, grief processes depend on
the relationship with the person who died, the situation surrounding the death,
and the person’s attachment to the person who died. Grief may be described as
the presence of physical problems, constant thoughts of the person who died,
guilt, hostility, and a change in the way one normally acts.
Bereavement is the period after a loss during which grief is experienced and
mourning occurs. The time spent in a period of bereavement depends on how
attached the person was to the person who died, and how much time was spent
anticipating the loss.
Mourning is the process by which people adapt to a loss. Mourning is also
influenced by cultural customs, rituals, and society’s rules for coping with
loss.
Grief work includes the processes that a mourner needs to complete before
resuming daily life. These processes include separating from the person who
died, readjusting to a world without him or her, and forming new relationships.
To separate from the person who died, a person must find another way to
redirect the emotional energy that was given to the loved one. This does not
mean the person was not loved or should be forgotten, but that the mourner
needs to turn to others for emotional satisfaction. The mourner’s roles,
identity, and skills may need to change to readjust to living in a world
without the person who died. The mourner must give other people or activities
the emotional energy that was once given to the person who died in order to
redirect emotional energy.
People who are grieving often feel extremely tired because the process of
grieving usually requires physical and emotional energy. The grief they are
feeling is not just for the person who died, but also for the unfulfilled
wishes and plans for the relationship with the person. Death often reminds
people of past losses or separations. Mourning may be described as having
the following 3 phases:
- The urge to bring back the person who died.
- Disorganization and sadness.
- Reorganization.
Back to Top Phases of a Life-Threatening Illness
Understanding how other people cope with a life-threatening illness may help
the patient and his or her family prepare to cope with their own illness. A
life-threatening illness may be described as having the following 4 phases:
The phase before the diagnosis of a life-threatening illness is the period of
time just before the diagnosis when a person realizes that he or she may
develop an illness. This phase is not usually a single moment, but extends
throughout the period when the person has a physical examination, including
various tests, and ends when the person is told of the diagnosis.
The acute phase occurs at the time of the diagnosis when a person is forced to
understand the diagnosis and make decisions about his or her medical care.
The chronic phase is the period of time between the diagnosis and the result of
treatment. It is the period when a patient tries to cope with the
demands of life while also undergoing treatment and coping with the side
effects of treatment. In the past, the period between a cancer diagnosis and
death usually lasted only a few months, and this time was usually spent in the
hospital. Today, people can live for years after being diagnosed with cancer.
In the recovery phase, people cope with the mental, social, physical,
religious, and financial effects of cancer.
The final (terminal) phase of a life-threatening illness occurs when death is
likely. The focus changes from curing the illness or prolonging life, to
providing comfort and relief from pain. Religious concerns are often the focus
during this time.
Back to Top The Pathway to Death
People who are dying may move towards death over longer or shorter periods of
time and in different ways. Different causes of death result in different
paths toward death.
The pathway to death may be long and slow, sometimes lasting years, or it may
be a rapid fall towards death (for example, after a car accident) when the chronic phase of the illness, if it exists at all, is short. The peaks and
valleys pathway describes the patient who repeatedly gets better and then
worse again (for example, a patient with AIDS or leukemia). Another pathway to
death may be described as a long, slow period of failing health and then a
period of stable health (for example, patients whose health gets worse and then
stabilizes at a new, more limiting level). Patients on this pathway must
readjust to losses in functioning ability.
Deaths from cancer often occur over a long period of time, and may involve
long-term pain and suffering, and/or loss of control over one’s body or mind.
Deaths caused by cancer are likely to drain patients and families physically
and emotionally because they occur over a long period of time.
Back to Top Anticipatory Grief
Anticipatory grief is the normal mourning that occurs when a patient or family
is expecting a death. Anticipatory grief has many of the same symptoms as
those experienced after a death has occurred. It includes all of the thinking,
feeling, cultural, and social reactions to an expected death that are felt by
the patient and family.
Anticipatory grief includes depression, extreme concern for the dying person,
preparing for the death, and adjusting to changes caused by the death.
Anticipatory grief gives the family more time to slowly get used to the reality
of the loss. People are able to complete unfinished business with the dying
person (for example, saying “good-bye,” “I love you,” or “I forgive you”).
Anticipatory grief may not always occur. Anticipatory grief does not mean that
before the death, a person feels the same kind of grief as the grief felt after
a death. There is not a set amount of grief that a person will feel. The
grief experienced before a death does not make the grief after the death last a
shorter amount of time.
Grief that follows an unplanned death is different from anticipatory grief.
Unplanned loss may overwhelm the coping abilities of a person, making normal
functioning impossible. Mourners may not be able to realize the total impact
of their loss. Even though the person recognizes that the loss occurred, he or
she may not be able to accept the loss mentally and emotionally. Following an
unexpected death, the mourner may feel that the world no longer has order and
does not make sense.
Some people believe that anticipatory grief is rare. To accept a loved one’s
death while he or she is still alive may leave the mourner feeling that the
dying patient has been abandoned. Expecting the loss often makes the
attachment to the dying person stronger. Although anticipatory grief may help
the family, the dying person may experience too much grief, causing the patient
to become withdrawn.
Back to Top Phases of Grief
The process of bereavement may be described as having 4 phases:
-
Shock and numbness: Family members find it difficult to believe the death;
they feel stunned and numb.
-
Yearning and searching: Survivors experience separation anxiety and cannot
accept the reality of the loss. They try to find and bring back the lost
person and feel ongoing frustration and disappointment when this is not
possible.
-
Disorganization and despair: Family members feel depressed and find it
difficult to plan for the future. They are easily distracted and have
difficulty concentrating and focusing.
-
Reorganization.
Back to Top Treatment
Most of the support that people receive after a loss comes from friends and
family. Doctors and nurses may also be a source of support. For people who
experience difficulty in coping with their loss, grief counseling or grief
therapy may be necessary.
Grief counseling helps mourners with normal grief reactions work through the
tasks of grieving. Grief counseling can be provided by professionally trained
people, or in self-help groups where bereaved people help other bereaved
people. All of these services may be available in individual or group
settings.
The goals of grief counseling include:
- Helping the bereaved to accept the loss by helping him or her to talk about
the loss.
- Helping the bereaved to identify and express feelings related to the loss
(for example, anger, guilt, anxiety, helplessness, and sadness).
- Helping the bereaved to live without the person who died and to make
decisions alone.
- Helping the bereaved to separate emotionally from the person who died and
to begin new relationships.
- Providing support and time to focus on grieving at important times such as
birthdays and anniversaries.
- Describing normal grieving and the differences in grieving among
individuals.
- Providing continuous support.
- Helping the bereaved to understand his or her methods of coping.
- Identifying coping problems the bereaved may have and making
recommendations for professional grief therapy.
Grief therapy is used with people who have more serious grief reactions. The
goal of grief therapy is to identify and solve problems the mourner may have in
separating from the person who died. When separation difficulties occur, they
may appear as physical or behavior problems, delayed or extreme mourning,
conflicted or extended grief, or unexpected mourning (although this is seldom
present with cancer deaths).
Grief therapy may be available as individual or group therapy. A contract is
set up with the individual that establishes the time limit of the therapy, the
fees, the goals, and the focus of the therapy.
In grief therapy, the mourner talks about the deceased and tries to recognize
whether he or she is experiencing an expected amount of emotion about the
death. Grief therapy may allow the mourner to see that anger, guilt, or other
negative or uncomfortable feelings can exist at the same time as more positive
feelings about the person who died.
Human beings tend to make strong bonds of affection or attachment with others.
When these bonds are broken, as in death, a strong emotional reaction occurs.
After a loss occurs, a person must accomplish certain tasks to complete the
process of grief. These basic tasks of mourning include accepting that the
loss happened, living with and feeling the physical and emotional pain of
grief, adjusting to life without the loved one, and emotionally separating from
the loved one and going on with life without him or her. It is important that
these tasks are completed before mourning can end.
In grief therapy, 6 tasks may be used to help a mourner work through grief:
- Develop the ability to experience, express, and adjust to painful
grief-related changes.
- Find effective ways to cope with painful changes.
- Establish a continuing relationship with the person who died.
- Stay healthy
and keep functioning.
- Re-establish relationships and understand that others
may have difficulty empathizing with the grief they experience.
- Develop
a healthy image of oneself and the world.
Complications in grief may come about due to uncompleted grief from earlier
losses. The grief for these earlier losses must be managed in order to handle
the current grief. Grief therapy includes dealing with the blockages to the
mourning process, identifying unfinished business with the deceased, and
identifying other losses that result from the death. The bereaved is helped to
see that the loss is final and to picture life after the grief period.
Back to Top Complicated Grief
Complicated grief reactions require more complex therapies than uncomplicated
grief reactions. Adjustment disorders (especially depressed and anxious mood
or disturbed emotions and behavior), major depression, substance abuse, and
even post-traumatic stress disorder are some of the common problems of
complicated bereavement. Complicated grief is identified by the extended
length of time of the symptoms, the interference caused by the symptoms, or by
the intensity of the symptoms (for example, intense suicidal thoughts or acts).
Complicated or unresolved grief may appear as a complete absence of grief and
mourning, an ongoing inability to experience normal grief reactions, delayed
grief, conflicted grief, or chronic grief. Factors that contribute to the
chance that one may experience complicated grief include the suddenness of the
death, the gender of the person in mourning, and the relationship to the
deceased (for example, an intense, extremely close, or very contradictory
relationship). Grief reactions that turn into major depression should be
treated with both drug and psychological therapy. One who avoids any reminders
of the person who died, who constantly thinks or dreams about the person who
died, and who gets scared and panics easily at any reminders of the person who
died may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Substance abuse may
occur, frequently in an attempt to avoid painful feelings about the loss and
symptoms (such as sleeplessness), and can also be treated with drugs and
psychological therapy.
Back to Top Children and Grief
In the past, children were thought to be miniature adults and were expected to
behave as adults. It is now understood that there are differences in the ways
in which children and adults mourn.
Unlike adults, bereaved children do not experience continual and intense
emotional and behavioral grief reactions. Children may seem to show grief only
occasionally and briefly, but in reality a child’s grief usually lasts longer
than that of an adult. This may be explained by the fact that a child’s
ability to experience intense emotions is limited. Mourning in children may
need to be addressed again and again as the child gets older. Since
bereavement is a process that continues over time, children will think about
the loss repeatedly, especially during important times in their life, such as
going to camp, graduating from school, getting married, or giving birth to
their own children.
A child’s grief may be influenced by his or her age, personality, stage of
development, earlier experiences with death, and his or her relationship with
the deceased. The surroundings, cause of death, family members’ ability to
communicate with one another and to continue as a family after the death can
also affect grief. The child’s ongoing need for care, the child’s opportunity
to share his or her feelings and memories, the parent’s ability to cope with
stress, and the child’s steady relationships with other adults are also other
factors that may influence grief.
Children do not react to loss in the same ways as adults. Grieving children
may not show their feelings as openly as adults. Grieving children may not
withdraw and dwell on the person who died, but instead may throw themselves
into activities (for example, they may be sad one minute and playful the next).
Often families think the child doesn’t really understand or has gotten over
the death. Neither is true; children’s minds protect them from what is too
powerful for them to handle. Children’s grieving periods are shortened because
they cannot think through their thoughts and feelings like adults. Also,
children have trouble putting their feelings about grief into words. Instead,
his or her behavior speaks for the child. Strong feelings of anger and fears
of abandonment or death may show up in the behavior of grieving children.
Children often play death games as a way of working out their feelings and anxieties. These games are familiar to the children and provide safe
opportunities to express their feelings.
Children’s Grief and Developmental Stages
Children at different stages of development have different understandings of
death and the events near death.
Infants
Infants do not recognize death, but feelings of loss and separation are part of
developing an awareness of death. Children who have been separated from their
mother may be sluggish, quiet, unresponsive to a smile or a coo, undergo
physical changes (for example, weight loss), be less active, and sleep less.
Age 2-3 years
Children at this age often confuse death with sleep and may experience anxiety as early as age 3. They may stop talking and appear to feel overall distress.
Age 3-6 years
At this age children see death as a kind of sleep; the person is alive, but
only in a limited way. The child cannot fully separate death from life.
Children may think that the person is still living, even though he or she might
have been buried, and ask questions about the deceased (for example, how does
the deceased eat, go to the toilet, breathe, or play?). Young children know
that death occurs physically, but think it is temporary, reversible, and not
final. The child’s concept of death may involve magical thinking. For
example, the child may think that his or her thoughts can cause another person
to become sick or die. Grieving children under 5 may have trouble eating,
sleeping, and controlling bladder and bowel functions.
Age 6-9 years
Children at this age are commonly very curious about death, and may ask
questions about what happens to one’s body when it dies. Death is thought of
as a person or spirit separate from the person who was alive, such as a
skeleton, ghost, angel of death, or bogeyman. They may see death as final
and frightening but as something that happens mostly to old people (and not to
themselves). Grieving children can become afraid of school, have learning
problems, develop antisocial or aggressive behaviors, become overly concerned
about their own health (for example, developing symptoms of imaginary illness),
or withdraw from others. Or, children this age can become too attached and
clinging. Boys usually become more aggressive and destructive (for example,
acting out in school), instead of openly showing their sadness. When a parent
dies children may feel abandoned by both their deceased parent and their
surviving parent because the surviving parent is grieving and is unable to
emotionally support the child.
Ages 9 and older
By the time a child is 9 years old, death is known to be unavoidable and is not
seen as a punishment. By the time a child is 12 years old, death is seen as
final and something that happens to everyone.
Grief and Developmental Stages
|
Age
|
Understanding of Death
|
Expressions of Grief
|
| Infancy to 2 years |
Is not yet able to understand death. |
Quietness, crankiness, decreased activity, poor sleep, and weight
loss. |
| Separation from mother causes changes. |
| 2-6 years |
Death is like sleeping. |
Asks many questions (How does she go to the bathroom? How does she eat?). |
| Problems in eating, sleeping, and bladder and bowel control. |
| Fear of abandonment. |
| Tantrums. |
| Dead person continues to live
and function in some ways. |
Magical thinking (Did I think something or do something that caused the death? Like when I said I hate you and I wish you would die?). |
| Death is temporary, not final. |
| Dead person can come back to life. |
| 6-9 years |
Death is thought of as a person or spirit (skeleton, ghost, bogeyman). |
Curious about death. |
| Asks specific questions. |
| May have exaggerated fears about
school. |
| Death is final and frightening. |
May have aggressive behaviors
(especially boys). |
| Some concerns about imaginary
illnesses. |
| Death happens to others, it won’t happen to ME. |
May feel abandoned. |
| 9 and older |
Everyone will die. |
Heightened emotions, guilt,
anger, shame. |
| Increased anxiety over own death. |
| Mood swings. |
| Death is final and cannot be changed. |
Fear of rejection; not wanting to
be different from peers. |
| Even I will die. |
Changes in eating habits. |
| Sleeping problems. |
| Regressive behaviors (loss of
interest in outside activities).
|
| Impulsive behaviors. |
| Feels guilty about being alive
(especially related to death of a
brother, sister, or peer). |
In American society, many grieving adults withdraw and do not talk to others.
Children, however, often talk to the people around them (even strangers) to see
the reactions of others and to get clues for their own responses. Children may
ask confusing questions. For example, a child may ask, "I know grandpa died,
but when will he come home?" This is a way of testing reality and making sure
the story of the death has not changed.
Other Issues for Grieving Children
Children’s grief expresses 3 issues:
- Did I cause the death to happen?
- Is it going to happen to me?
- Who is going to take care of me?
Did I cause the death to happen?
Children often think that they have magical powers. If a mother says in
irritation, "You’ll be the death of me" and later dies, her child may wonder if
he or she actually caused the mother’s death. Also, when children argue, one
may say (or think), "I wish you were dead." Should that child die, the
surviving child may think that his or her thoughts actually caused the death.
Is it going to happen to me?
The death of another child may be especially hard for a child. If the child
thinks that the death may have been prevented (by either a parent or a doctor)
the child may think that he or she could also die.
Who is going to take care of me?
Since children depend on parents and other adults to take care of them, a
grieving child may wonder who will care for him or her after the death of an
important person.
Grieving Children: Treatment
A child’s grieving process may be made easier by being open and honest with the
child about death, using direct language, and incorporating the child into
memorial ceremonies for the person who died.
Explanation of death
Not talking about death (which indicates that the subject is off-limits) does
not help children learn to cope with loss. When discussing death with
children, explanations should be simple and direct. Each child should be told
the truth using as much detail as he or she is able to understand. The child’s
questions should be answered honestly and directly. Children need to be
reassured about their own security (they often worry that they will also die,
or that their surviving parent will go away). Children’s questions should be
answered, making sure that the child understands the answers.
Correct language
A discussion about death should include the proper words, such as cancer,
died, and death. Substitute words or phrases (for example, “he passed away,”
“he is sleeping,” or “we lost him”) should never be used because they can
confuse children and lead to misunderstandings.
Planning memorial ceremonies
When a death occurs, children can and should be included in the planning and
participation of memorial ceremonies. These events help children (and adults)
remember loved ones. Children should not be forced to be involved in these
ceremonies, but they should be encouraged to take part in those portions of the
events with which they feel most comfortable. If the child wants to attend the
funeral, wake, or memorial service, he or she should be given in advance a full
explanation of what to expect. The surviving parent may be too involved in his
or her own grief to give their child full attention, therefore, it may be
helpful to have a familiar adult or family member care for the grieving child.
References and resources for grieving children
There are many helpful books and videos that can be shared with grieving
children:
- Worden JW: Children and Grief: When a Parent Dies. New York: The Guilford
Press, 1996.
- Doka KJ, Ed.: Children Mourning, Mourning Children. Washington, DC:
Hospice Foundation of America, 1995.
- Wass H, Corr CA: Childhood and Death. Washington, DC: Hemisphere Publishing
Corporation, 1984.
- Corr CA, McNeil JN: Adolescence and Death. New York: Springer Publishing
Company, 1986.
- Corr, CA, Nabe CM, Corr DM: Death and Dying, Life and Living. 2nd ed.,
Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1997.
- Grollman EA: Talking About Death: A Dialogue Between Parent and Child. 3rd
ed., Boston: Beacon Press, 1990.
- Schaefer D, Lyons C: How Do We Tell The Children?: Helping Children
Understand And Cope When Someone Dies. New York: Newmarket Press, 1988.
- Wolfelt A: Helping Children Cope with Grief. Muncie: Accelerated
Development, 1983.
- Walker A: To Hell with Dying. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988.
- Williams M: Velveteen Rabbit. Garden City: Doubleday, 1922.
- Viost J: The Tenth Good Thing About Barney. New York: Atheneum, 1971.
- Tiffault BW: A Quilt for Elizabeth. Omaha: Centering Corporation, 1992.
- Levine J: Forever in My Heart: A Story to Help Children Participate in Life
as a Parent Dies. Burnsville, NC: Rainbow Connection, 1992.
- Knoderer K: Memory Book: A Special Way to Remember Someone You Love.
Warminster: Mar-Co Products, 1995.
- de Paola T: Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs. New York, NY: GP Putnam’s
Sons, 1973.
Back to Top Culture and Response to Grief and Mourning
Grief felt for the loss of a loved one, the loss of a treasured possession, or
a loss associated with an important life change, occurs across all ages and
cultures. However, the role that cultural heritage plays in an individual’s
experience of grief and mourning is not well understood. Attitudes, beliefs,
and practices regarding death must be described according to myths and
mysteries surrounding death within different cultures.
Individual, personal experiences of grief are similar in different cultures.
This is true even though different cultures have different mourning ceremonies,
traditions, and behaviors to express grief. Helping families cope with the
death of a loved one includes showing respect for the family’s cultural
heritage and encouraging them to decide how to honor the death. Important
questions that should be asked of people who are dealing with the loss of a
loved one include:
- What are the cultural rituals for coping with dying, the deceased person’s
body, the final arrangements for the body, and honoring the death?
- What are the family’s beliefs about what happens after death?
- What does the family feel is a normal expression of grief and the
acceptance of the loss?
- What does the family consider to be the roles of each family member in
handling the death?
- Are certain types of death less acceptable (for example, suicide), or are
certain types of death especially hard to handle for that culture (for example,
the death of a child)?
Death, grief, and mourning spare no one and are normal life events. All
cultures have developed ways to cope with death. Interfering with these
practices may interfere with the necessary grieving processes. Understanding
different cultures’ response to death can help physicians recognize the
grieving process in patients of other cultures.
Back to Top Get More Information From NCI
Call 1-800-4-CANCER
For more information, U.S. residents may call the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) Cancer Information Service toll-free at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237) Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Deaf and hard-of-hearing callers with TTY equipment may call 1-800-332-8615. The call is free and a trained Cancer Information Specialist is available to answer your questions.
Chat online
The NCI's LiveHelp® online chat service provides Internet users with the ability to chat online with an Information Specialist. The service is available from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday. Information Specialists can help Internet users find information on NCI Web sites and answer questions about cancer.
Write to us
For more information from the NCI, please write to this address:
- NCI Public Inquiries Office
- Suite 3036A
- 6116 Executive Boulevard, MSC8322
- Bethesda, MD 20892-8322
Search the NCI Web site
The NCI Web site provides online access to information on cancer, clinical trials, and other Web sites and organizations that offer support and resources for cancer patients and their families. For a quick search, use our “Best Bets” search box in the upper right hand corner of each Web page. The results that are most closely related to your search term will be listed as Best Bets at the top of the list of search results.
There are also many other places to get materials and information about cancer treatment and services. Hospitals in your area may have information about local and regional agencies that have information on finances, getting to and from treatment, receiving care at home, and dealing with problems related to cancer treatment.
Find Publications
The NCI has booklets and other materials for patients, health professionals, and the public. These publications discuss types of cancer, methods of cancer treatment, coping with cancer, and clinical trials. Some publications provide information on tests for cancer, cancer causes and prevention, cancer statistics, and NCI research activities. NCI materials on these and other topics may be ordered online or printed directly from the NCI Publications Locator. These materials can also be ordered by telephone from the Cancer Information Service toll-free at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237), TTY at 1-800-332-8615.
Back to Top Changes to This Summary (06/19/2006)
The PDQ cancer information summaries are reviewed regularly and updated as new information becomes available. This section describes the latest changes made to this summary as of the date above.
Editorial changes were made to this summary.
Back to Top Questions or Comments About This Summary
If you have questions or comments about this summary, please send them to Cancer.gov through the Web site’s Contact Form. We can respond only to email messages written in English.
Back to Top About PDQ
PDQ is a comprehensive cancer database available on NCI's Web site.
PDQ is the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) comprehensive cancer information database. Most of the information contained in PDQ is available online at NCI's Web site. PDQ is provided as a service of the NCI. The NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health, the federal government's focal point for biomedical research.
PDQ contains cancer information summaries.
The PDQ database contains summaries of the latest published information on cancer prevention, detection, genetics, treatment, supportive care, and complementary and alternative medicine. Most summaries are available in two versions. The health professional versions provide detailed information written in technical language. The patient versions are written in easy-to-understand, nontechnical language. Both versions provide current and accurate cancer information.
The PDQ cancer information summaries are developed by cancer experts and reviewed regularly.
Editorial Boards made up of experts in oncology and related specialties are responsible for writing and maintaining the cancer information summaries. The summaries are reviewed regularly and changes are made as new information becomes available. The date on each summary ("Date Last Modified") indicates the time of the most recent change.
PDQ also contains information on clinical trials.
A clinical trial is a study to answer a scientific question, such as whether one method of treating symptoms is better than another. Trials are based on past studies and what has been learned in the laboratory. Each trial answers certain scientific questions in order to find new and better ways to help cancer patients. Some patients have symptoms caused by cancer treatment or by the cancer itself. During supportive care clinical trials, information is collected about how well new ways to treat symptoms of cancer work. The trials also study side effects of treatment and problems that come up during or after treatment. If a clinical trial shows that a new treatment is better than one currently being used, the new treatment may become "standard." Patients who have symptoms related to cancer treatment may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial.
Listings of clinical trials are included in PDQ and are available online at NCI's Web site. Descriptions of the trials are available in health professional and patient versions. Many cancer doctors who take part in clinical trials are also listed in PDQ. For more information, call the Cancer Information Service 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237); TTY at 1-800-332-8615.
Back to Top |
