Cancer Survivors in Later Life

Cancer has been called a disease of the elderly, with advancing age as a risk factor for most cancers and half of all malignancies occurring after the age of 65. With the recent advances in medical care, people are living longer after cancer treatments. The number of cancer survivors is projected to reach 19 million by 2024. Cancer Survivors in Later Life blends existing research with the findings from a major National Cancer Institute-funded study focusing on older adult cancer survivors and the challenges they face. The book is organized into eight chapters that reflect some of the key themes in larger psycho-social oncology, medical oncology, gerontology, and family research literatures. These include cancer and aging, cancer survivorship in later life, cancer and the social self, health and quality of life, functioning and disability, psycho-social distress, adaptation, appraisal and coping, and altered life perspectives after cancer.

Within each chapter, the theme introduced is discussed in terms of the prominent foundational and recent research published by those working in the field. This is supplemented by findings from over 20 years of Dr. Deimling’s research in collaboration with colleagues at Cancer Survivors Research Program (CSRP) at Case Western Reserve. In addition to the quantitative data presented, each chapter provides narratives that draw on the lived experiences of respondents in these studies in their own words, making Cancer Survivors in Later Life a multifaceted resource. Readers will find it a state-of-the-art reference for studying the key challenges older adult survivors face in terms of their health, living with cancer, and coping with its after-effects.

• Based on a major NCI-funded longitudinal study of older-adult, long-term cancer survivors
• Provides a scientific base for evidence on the relationship between aging and the impact of cancer
• Develops conceptual models to illustrate the key aspects of cancer survival in later life
• Integrates narrative from survivors to highlight important themes

CONTENTS

1. Cancer and Aging
2. Cancer Survivorship in Later Life
3. Cancer and the Social Self
(Contributed by Spencier Ciaralli)
4. Health Quality of Life
5. Functioning and Disability
6. Psycho-Social Distress
7. Adaptation, Appraisal and Coping
8. Altered Life Perspectives After Cancer
(Contributed by Eva and Boaz Kahana)