Living with Cancer as a Chronic Disease: Quality of Life and Supportive Care

Dear Colleagues,

Advances in oncology have extended the survival of cancer patients. However, many individuals experience persistent symptoms such as fatigue, pain, and neuropathy, as well as functional limitations and emotional strain long after treatments end. These long-term effects can limit autonomy, strain relationships, and reduce participation in work and social life. Quality of life, therefore, becomes a central focus, encompassing physical comfort, psychological wellbeing, social participation, and spiritual needs. Prognostic awareness helps patients to make informed decisions, plan ahead, and maintain a sense of control. Supportive care plays a crucial role by offering symptom management, rehabilitation, nutritional counselling, and timely psychosocial support. Early integration of palliative care helps to anticipate needs, prevent crises, and maintain continuity of care. Caregivers play a vital role throughout the illness trajectory, offering practical assistance and providing emotional support; however, they often face significant burdens and require structured support themselves. A coordinated, multidisciplinary model of care—integrating symptom management, rehabilitation, and psychosocial counselling—helps both patients and caregivers to adapt and sustain daily life despite the ongoing presence of cancer.

For this Special Issue of Cancers, we welcome original research and review articles that present recent advances and future challenges in the management of people living with cancer as a chronic condition.

Dr. Paolo Cotogni
Guest Editor

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-blind 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.