Oncology Commons^™

Indicators Of Psychological Distress And Body Image Disorders In Female Patients With Breast Cancer, Helena Van Oers, Lourens Schlebusch

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Breast cancer patients are vulnerable to elevated stress related to receiving the diagnosis, unfamiliar and invasive treatment, and coping with the side-effects of treatment, which may find various forms of expression. Another common feature of this patient population is body image dysphoria. Both the disease and treatment lead to impairments in physical appearance and general bodily functioning. This study aimed to explore the differential manifestations of stress and the nature of body image dysphoria within a sample of female breast cancer patients (n=80), compared to female patients with other sites of disease (n=80) in order to examine differences in the …

Lars-Like Symptoms In The General Population May Suggest The Significance Of Postoperative Functional Problems And Emotional Implications Of Rectal Surgery, Tudor-Cristian Frunza, Sorinel Lunca, Iustina Baciu, Iulia Axinia, Cezar V. Mocanu, Andreea Crudu, Narcis Bujor, Lucia F. Livenschi, Claudiu A. Nicolaiev, Andreea Hulubencu, Anca Diaconu, Emilia Valasciu, Ioana Jalobceastai, Malina Tibirna, Mihail G. Dimofte

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Background & Aim. Sphincter-saving rectal surgery is prone to cause changes in bowel function associated with Low Anterior Resection Syndrome (LARS). Our aim was to assess LARS-like symptoms within a population of 50-80-year old in order to understand the functional disturbances and emotional impact of LARS. Materials and methods: We used a questionnaire to evaluate LARS with the following categories of symptoms: flatulence control, anal incontinence, frequency, clustering and urgency of the stools, and the psycho-emotional impact created by the presence of these symptoms. We calculated the severity of LARS on 343 responders. Results. The average age of the responders …

Recurrent Vulvar Carcinoma: Complex Surgical Treatment Via Perineal Excision And Reconstruction With Musculocutaneous Flap, Dragoș Popa, Cosmin V. Obleagă, Ștefan Paitici, Stelian Ș. Mogoanta, Ionică D. Vîlcea, Pouya Pourgolafshan, Cristian Gheorghe, Manuela I. Vasile, Raluca Câmpeanu, Cecil S. Mirea

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Vulvar cancer is a malignant disease having a low frequency and with well-established surgical and oncological treatments based on the stage of the disease. The most important therapeutic problem encountered is represented by cases of perineal local regional recurrence, which are common in patients with large primary tumors and can occur even if the margins of the resection had no tumoral invasion.

We present a case study of a 64-year-old patient diagnosed one year ago with squamous vulvar carcinoma (G3) for which a vulvectomy was performed after neoadjuvant radiotherapy. The patient later developed local recurrence with invasion of the anal …

End-Stage Head And Neck Cancer: Coping Mechanism, Bogdan Popescu, Oana Paun, Razvan V. Scăunaşu, Serban V.G. Berteşteanu

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Coping mechanisms are patients’ means of adapting to stressful situations and involve psychological and physical changes in behavior. Patients adapt to head and neck cancer in a variety of ways. Head and neck cancers are extremely debilitating, especially in advanced stages of the disease or in end-of-life situations. While an oncology team needs to address the needs of all oncology patients, the advanced terminal patients require special attention. Most of these patients do not cope well with their situation and have a tendency to cease social interactions. Pain is the most frequentlyexperienced medical disability in patients having an end-stage illness …