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Psychological Factors and Cancer Survivorship

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Survivorship and Quality of Life".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1295

Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
Interests: psycho-oncology; clinical health psychology

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Guest Editor
Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA
Interests: brain tumor; neuro-oncology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The cancer survivorship spectrum starts when symptoms are detected and continues throughout diagnosis, treatment, and end-of-life. Individual psychosocial and quality of life (QOL) experiences in cancer are non-linear across the survivorship spectrum and are diverse in frequency, intensity, and persistence over time. These factors also vary across cancer type, survivorship phase, and the treatment type, responsiveness, toxicities, and outcomes.

Psychosocial, quality of life (QOL), and cultural factors are intersectional among individuals with cancer and have downstream effects on cancer biomarkers and outcomes. Negative psychosocial experiences, such as distress, are often clinically significant and impairing; however, notably, they often co-exist with positive experiences, such as meaning-making.

These biopsychosocial effects are responsive to psychological and behavioral interventions aimed at mitigating distress and enhancing overall wellness. Interventions vary in how they are delivered, length of treatment, therapeutic approach, and effectiveness.

This Special Issue will enhance the visibility of clinically significant, novel research addressing the aforementioned topics for both cancer researchers and clinicians. This issue will also enrich knowledge about biopsychosocial–cultural relationships and will optimize awareness about how interventions improve distress and clinical outcomes in cancer. Additional goals include filling gaps in the extant research and advancing the current state-of-the-science about how to improve mental and physical QOL and, ultimately, clinical outcomes.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Deidre B. Pereira
Dr. Ashley P. Ghiaseddin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • psycho-oncology
  • distress
  • distress management
  • biobehavior markers and mechanisms
  • quality of life outcomes
  • treatment outcomes
  • survival outcomes

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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31 pages, 1009 KB  
Systematic Review
Psychological Resources in Adults with Cancer: A Systematic Review of Quantitative Studies
by Morgiane Bridou and Léonore Robieux
Cancers 2026, 18(15), 2525; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18152525 - 6 Aug 2026
Viewed by 225
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Patients facing cancer’s challenges develop various coping strategies. This systematic review identifies the psychological resources that influence their mental health and quality of life. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched Medline, PsycINFO, PubMed, Science Direct, Springerlink, and Wiley for empirical studies published [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Patients facing cancer’s challenges develop various coping strategies. This systematic review identifies the psychological resources that influence their mental health and quality of life. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched Medline, PsycINFO, PubMed, Science Direct, Springerlink, and Wiley for empirical studies published between 2010 and 2025 for articles containing the term “cancer” and one or more terms relating to psychological resources. Including studies focused on peer-reviewed articles evaluating at least one psychological resource and one mental health outcome in adult cancer patients. A total of 95 studies (N = 21,683) were included after a formal screening process. Results: Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies—of Exposures (ROBINS-E) assessments of the risk of bias showed the overall quality of the included studies, with 89% of studies having a low or moderate risk of bias. The review identified 16 psychological resources. We described each resource’s impact based on the strength of current empirical evidence. Optimism, resilience, hope, and self-compassion emerged as the most prominent predictors of reduced psychological distress. By analyzing study designs, these resources were organized into a functional hierarchy reflecting their specific roles within the coping process. Conclusions: Based on this categorization, we propose a conceptual model illustrating the interplay between these resources. This framework suggests a theoretical basis for future empirical validation and provides directions for designing targeted psychological interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychological Factors and Cancer Survivorship)
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16 pages, 1180 KB  
Commentary
Emerging Perspectives on Adverse Childhood Experiences and Brain Cancer Immunotherapy
by John W. Figg, Julian Mark, Caretia J. Washington, Anna Fusco, Maegan A. Cremer, Scott A. Cohen, Stephan Quintin, Deidre B. Pereira and Ashley P. Ghiaseddin
Cancers 2026, 18(12), 1882; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18121882 - 9 Jun 2026
Viewed by 571
Abstract
Adverse childhood events (ACEs) represent a major public health burden in the United States, as exposure to ACEs increases the risk of mental health disorders, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and cancer and can greatly affect quality of life. Although the effects of ACEs on [...] Read more.
Adverse childhood events (ACEs) represent a major public health burden in the United States, as exposure to ACEs increases the risk of mental health disorders, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and cancer and can greatly affect quality of life. Although the effects of ACEs on physiology are complex, significant evidence suggests that ACEs may affect the immune system later in life. As the field of immunotherapy gains prominence in cancer treatment, it becomes imperative to explore how ACEs may impact cancer immunotherapy. Brain cancer, especially glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), has a very poor prognosis and remains a challenging disease to treat. Immunotherapy approaches are being actively investigated. To address this, we aim to raise awareness of the potential connection between ACEs, brain cancer, and cancer immunotherapy. Through a review of the current biomedical literature, we synthesized current findings into a commentary on how early-life adversity may influence the immune response within the central nervous system. It is the intention of this commentary to generate hypothesis-driven research within the nascent and emerging field of neuro-psycho-immunology in neuro-oncology. Given that the relationship between ACEs and brain cancer immunotherapy remains vastly understudied, this commentary has significant potential to generate insightful discussions among clinicians and scientists to guide further clinical and basic research towards anticipating which patients stand to receive the most benefit from immunotherapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychological Factors and Cancer Survivorship)
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