February 1, 2006 marked the launch of the Center for Translational
Cancer Research (CTCR) in Delaware. The CTCR represents a formal
alliance of the University of Delaware, the Christiana Care Helen
F. Graham Cancer Center, the
Nemours/AI duPont Hospital for Children and the Delaware Biotechnology
Institute.
What is Translational Cancer Research?
Discovery to Recovery:
Translational Cancer Research transforms
the latest discoveries in the laboratory into
innovative new treatments for cancer patients.
Cancer is a major health problem that affects thousands of Delawareans. Before the creation of the CTCR, no coordinated network existed in the State of Delaware to unite local cancer researchers with clinicians with a common focus on developing new cancer treatments or identifying new cancer biomarkers for population screening, prevention and risk management. The CTCR has created a center “without walls” to support clinical and basic scientific efforts in translational cancer research within the State of Delaware. We hope you will explore our site!
RECENT:
Jean-Philippe Laurenceau, Ph.D., a CTCR investigator and member of the Department of Psychology at the University of Delaware was awarded a new grant from the NCI entitled "Studying the Daily Lives of Couples Coping with Breast Cancer". The grant funding period will begin in June of 2009 and continue through 2011. Dr. Lawrence Cohen, also from Psychology, will serve as co-PI. Scott Siegel, Ph.D. a Health Psychologist from the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at the Christiana Care Health System, also serves as a co-PI. The project focuses on breast cancer, the most common cancer diagnosis among women worldwide. American women have a 1 in 8 lifetime probability of developing breast cancer. Today, death rates from breast cancer have steadily decreased since 1990 and women are surviving longer with the disease. Thus, health care professionals face a new set of challenges: helping patients, survivors, and their family members cope with the whole cancer experience. Recent research has documented that breast cancer diagnosis and treatment affect the patient's spouse/partner as well as the couple's relationship functioning. To study the impact of this diagnosis on a couple, and to capture behavior and mood "in the moment," health researchers are beginning to use diaries to assess the daily functioning of medical patients. None of this research has focused on breast cancer patients and their spouses/ partners in the same study. The primary purpose of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of an electronic daily diary methodology for research with breast cancer patients and their spouses/partners. Within a few weeks after surgery, breast cancer patients and their spouses/partners will complete a battery of questionnaires. Then, for 10 consecutive nights, breast cancer patients and their spouses/ partners will complete surveys via personal digital assistants (PDAs) that assess their daily experiences, mood, and social support processes. Feasibility of this electronic diary methodology will be evaluated in terms of the percentage of couples who agree to participate in the study and the percentage of participating couples who complete the PDA-based survey each night. The electronic diary methodology will also be used to test two dyadic hypotheses for couples coping with breast cancer. The first focuses on the effect of perceived and received support on the daily adjustment of breast cancer patients and their spouses/partners. The second focuses on day-to-day transmission of emotion between breast cancer patients and their spouses/partners. The investigators hope to use the information to better support the emotional needs of couples coping with breast cancer diagnosis.
Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research (NCCCR) Partner Site now launched.
