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A review of NCI’s FY 1999 research portfolio indicated
that only 18 studies focused on the impact of cancer
on the family. To stimulate research on family
members of cancer survivors, DCCPS provided 1-
year supplement awards to NCI-funded clinical and
comprehensive cancer centers. Funded studies at 10
institutions spanned the life cycle, focusing on both
child and adult caregivers, and addressed multiple
cancer sites including breast, colon, prostate, brain,
head and neck, and pediatric cancers. Final products
were produced from six of the grants, including:
- Brochures to promote prostate cancer screening.
- A workbook for terminally ill patients and
their caregivers.
- Three training manuals for health care
professionals for delivering unique
family-focused interventions.
- Two tools for the investigator community: a
standardized method for observing and
coding behavioral interactions between
family members, and an instrument to help
assess couples’ intimacy.
In Fiscal Year 2002, one of the investigators was
successfully awarded a small grant to expand upon
preliminary findings derived from this supplemental
funding. The grant employs a longitudinal design to
assess the psychological and relationship functioning
of lung cancer patients and spouses. This spin-off
award exemplifies the importance of thesupplement mechanism to generate pilot data that can serve as a model for more expansive studies.
The remaining nine grantees continue to be funded
by NIH. There is a continuing need to develop
future initiatives to understand the impact of cancer
on the family and to further test interventions to
alleviate the burden of cancer on family health and
on psychosocial and economic well-being.
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