A new study by Concordia researchers suggests that one-third of adult survivors of childhood cancer experience a fear of cancer recurrence so severe that it can seriously impact their daily lives. The cross-sectional investigation of 229 survivors of childhood cancer, published in JAMA Network Open Oncology , found that 16.6 per cent of long-term survivors reported clinically significant fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) and an additional 15.
7 per cent reported high FCR. While the numbers are believed to be similar to those seen in survivors of adult-onset cancer, this study highlights the general lack of scientific literature on adult survivors of childhood cancer, says lead author Alex Pizzo, a Clinical Psychology PhD student at the Behavioural Health Innovations Lab at Concordia. "We have not seen the use of strong measures of FCR that have been validated or are reliable when it comes to studies with childhood cancer survivors, so it has been difficult to pin down prevalence estimates," he says.
Of course, some level of fear or anxiety around FCR is entirely normal and justifiable. But we did not have much evidence about it reaching a level where it really starts to cause survivors distress or impact their school, work or relationships with people." Nicole Alberts, PhD, associate professor, Department of Psychology and the paper's corresponding author Fears linger even decades after treatment The researchers performed a detailed analysis of data from participants recruited f.