BMJ 1998;316:880-880 ( 21 March )

Editorials

Cancer in parents: telling children

Sensitive communication can reduce psychological problems 

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Children of cancer patients "represent a hidden, high risk group whose problems are minimised by overwhelmed parents and unknown to the medical staff who seldom see them."1 A recent editorial in the BMJ highlighted the difficulties doctors have in communicating the news of a cancer diagnosis to their patients.2 How much harder must it be for parents with newly diagnosed cancer to tell their children while coming to terms with the implications themselves? Cancer in a parent is an issue that confronts many families. For example, breast cancer affects one in 12 women in Britain,3 30% of whom are likely to be diagnosed while they have children still living at home.4

Good doctor-patient communication about the diagnosis and shared decision making over treatment are crucial and have a protective effect on patients' psychological adjustment,5 and useful guidelines on how to impart the diagnosis are available.6 Little attention has been paid to . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

Breast cancer in the family—children's perceptions of their mother's cancer and its initial treatment: qualitative study
Gillian Forrest, Caroline Plumb, Sue Ziebland, and Alan Stein
BMJ 2006 332: 998-1003. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Schmitt, F., Manninen, H., Santalahti, P., Savonlahti, E., Pyrhonen, S., Romer, G., Piha, J. (2007). Children of Parents with Cancer: A Collaborative Project Between a Child Psychiatry Clinic and an Adult Oncology Clinic. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry 12: 421-436 [Abstract]  
  • Forrest, G., Plumb, C., Ziebland, S., Stein, A. (2006). Breast cancer in the family--children's perceptions of their mother's cancer and its initial treatment: qualitative study. BMJ 332: 998-1003 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Barnes, J., Kroll, L., Burke, O., Lee, J., Jones, A., Stein, A. (2000). Qualitative interview study of communication between parents and children about maternal breast cancer. BMJ 321: 479-482 [Abstract] [Full text]  
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