Caregivers are asked to talk about their deepest thoughts and feelings regarding the patient's transplant and their role as caregiver, in the presence of the patient (one session).

Caregivers are asked to talk about their deepest thoughts and feelings regarding the patient's transplant and their role as caregiver, in the absence of the patient (3 sessions).

Caregivers are asked to talk about their plans for the upcoming week (time management, sessions 1 and 3) and positive aspects of their life (session 2).

Caregivers are given the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings regarding the patient's transplant and their role as caregiver

Emotional expression

Shelby Langer, PhD

This study seeks to test a brief psychological intervention for spousal caregivers of cancer patients (specifically, hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients), persons known to experience emotional distress.

This project focuses on spousal caregivers (CGs) of hematopoietic stem cell transplant survivors - persons known to report elevated levels of distress as compared to both norms and their patient counterparts. Specific Aims are to: (1) Determine, via experimental manipulation, whether or not CGs of hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients engage in protective buffering, a coping mechanism whereby partners shield patients from illness-related concerns or worries, (2) Examine synchrony or lack thereof, desynchrony, among subjective, expressive and biologic indicators of emotion among spousal CGs, and (3) Test the feasibility and implementation of an emotional expression (EE) exercise designed to enhance psychological and immune functioning among spousal CGs.

Spouses/Partners Expressing Their Thoughts After Transplant

Emotional Expression and Cancer Caregivers

University of Washington

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Shelby Langer (Principal Investigator)

Neoplasms

All Conditions

Urinary Tract, Sexual Organs, and Pregnancy Conditions

Rare Diseases

Carcinoma

Carcinoma, Renal Cell

Kidney Neoplasms

Urologic Neoplasms

Urogenital Neoplasms

Urogenital Diseases

Female Urogenital Diseases

Pregnancy Complications

Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications

Kidney Diseases

Urologic Diseases

Male Urogenital Diseases

Adenocarcinoma

Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial

Neoplasms by Histologic Type

Renal Cell Carcinoma

Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

20 minutes of writing on different topics at four different times. Questionnaires about mood and quality of life completed 1 month, 4 months, and 10 months after the last writing assignment.

20 minutes of writing on different topics at four different times.

Writing

Questionnaires about mood and quality of life completed 1 month, 4 months, and 10 months after the last writing assignment.

Questionnaire

Lorenzo Cohen, PhD

The proposed study will assess the psychological and physiological benefits of an emotional expression intervention in patients with renal cancer. Patients will be randomly assigned to an emotional expression writing group or to a neutral writing group. This study will also evaluate the extent to which psychosocial factors mediate the intervention program and predict patients' recovery and adjustment to treatment. Potential mediators include level of cognitive processing, social networks/interactions, and sense of coherence and ability to find meaning in the illness experience.

Specific objectives of the proposed research are:

* To evaluate an emotional expression intervention in patients with renal cancer. Researchers will determine the extent to which an emotional expression writing-based intervention enhances adjustment during the first 12 months following diagnosis and treatment. Dimensions of adjustment will be assessed by examining indices of QOL, mental health, and stress (subjective symptoms of distress, perceived stress, and mood).
* To determine the effects of an emotional expression writing-based intervention on immune function. The immune measures assessed in this study will include both general and autologous tumor-specific immune responses including cytotoxicity to K562 target cells; cytotoxicity to autologous tumor target cells; and functional assessment of type-1 and type-2 cytokines using autologous tumor and polyclonal stimulants.
* To identify the psychosocial processes underlying the efficacy of the intervention.

Patients in this study will already be scheduled for surgery/ablation, or for chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment. Patients undergoing surgery/ablation will complete some questionnaires about their mood and quality of life. These questionnaires will happen about 6 weeks after their procedure, during their scheduled visit to M.D. Anderson to follow-up after their surgery. Patients scheduled to receive chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment will complete the same questionnaires around the time of their new patient consult visit at M.D. Anderson. They should take about 60 minutes to complete. About 8 teaspoons of blood will be drawn to measure immune function.

Patients will then be randomly picked (as in the toss of a coin) to be in one of two groups. One group will be the emotional expression writing group. The other group will be the neutral writing group.

Patients in both groups will be asked to write for 20 minutes on different topics at four different times. They will be asked to complete all assignments in their home. They will choose four separate times when they would like to do the writing assignments and a research assistant will prompt them with a phone call at those times. During these phone calls, patients will complete a brief mood evaluation before the start of the writing session. After 20 minutes, patients will receive another phone call to signal that they should stop writing. A second mood assessment will also be given at this time. Patients will be provided with a pre-addressed, stamped envelope for mailing each writing sample back to M. D. Anderson the day after it is completed.

Patients will complete some questionnaires about their mood and quality of life approximately 1 month, 4 months, and 10 months after their last writing assignment. They should take about 60 minutes to complete. About 8 teaspoons of blood will then be taken each time to measure immune function.

This is an investigational study. As many as 710 patients will be enrolled in this study. All will be enrolled at M. D. Anderson.

Study title	NCT ID	Conditions	Interventions	Eligibility	Organization
Spouses/Partners Expressing Their Thoughts After Transplant	NCT01061801	Cancer Hematopoietic S...	Emotional expre...	21 Years -	Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Spouses/Partners Expressing Their Thoughts After Transplant	NCT01061801	Cancer Hematopoietic S...	Emotional expre...	21 Years -	Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Spouses/Partners Expressing Their Thoughts After Transplant	NCT01061801	Cancer Hematopoietic S...	Emotional expre...	21 Years -	Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Biobehavioral Effects of Emotional Expression in Cancer	NCT00505310	Kidney Cancer	Writing Questionnaire	18 Years -	M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Spots Global Cancer Trial Database for emotional expression