Unmet psychosocial needs indicate a desire for additional support in cancer patients, having a direct clinical utility in directing the provision of supportive care. There is evidence in wider cancer groups that unmet needs relate to psychological wellbeing but this relationship has yet to be fully explored and factors that may explain or moderate this relationship yet to be examined. There has been little investigation of type or prevalence of unmet need in haematological cancer patients, however, haematological cancers are noteworthy for their high levels of associated distress. Understanding causality of distress is key to the effective implementation of supportive care services. This thesis aimed to highlight the unmet needs most relevant to haematological cancer patients and to explore their impact upon psychological wellbeing. This thesis comprises four interconnected research studies: a systematic review exploring existing knowledge of unmet needs; a qualitative exploration of patient experiences of unmet needs and their impact; a quantitative questionnaire study of unmet need and psychological wellbeing in newly diagnosed haematological cancer patients, placing a special emphasis on the difference between active treatment and watch and wait regimes; and, a second quantitative questionnaire study that explores unmet need, psychological wellbeing, and psychological flexibility as a potential moderator in their relationship in a sample of haematological cancer survivors. This thesis demonstrates a relationship between unmet need and psychological wellbeing in haematological cancer patients. Fear of recurrence, concerns about loved ones, being able to do the things you used to, and a need for information were all found to be of relevance. The qualitative study highlighted that patients feel that, as haematology patients, they are distinct from other cancer patients which impacts upon the perceived acceptability of support services and specific barriers to the accessing of support services are presented. Significant correlations between unmet need and key psychological outcomes such as anxiety, depression and quality of life were observed in both quantitative studies. In addition, the concept of psychological flexibility was found to moderate the relationship between unmet need and psychological wellbeing in haematological cancer survivors. This work has clear implications for both future research and clinical practice. Unmet needs assessment has the potential to be used as a screening tool for overall psychological wellbeing, a way to stratify and understand the specific causes of distress and poor quality of life for this patient group. In the UK, on-going support for cancer patients diminishes at the end of treatment, these findings suggest that further support is needed in order to meet the psychological needs of cancer survivors. Further research is needed to further explore the role of psychological flexibility in cancer-related distress: interventions that target psychological flexibility have the potential to improve both unmet need and distress.

Bakgrund: Att genomgå behandlingar vid hematologisk cancer innebär en stor omställning i det dagliga livet. Symtom och biverkningar har en stor påverkan på kropp och själ. Hematologisk cancer innefattar olika typer av cancer: leukemi, lymfom och myelom. Den behandling som ges vid hematologisk cancer innefattar stamcellstransplantation, strålning och cellgifter. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva patienters upplevelser av behandlingar vid hematologisk cancer. Metod: Datamaterialet analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Data insamlades genom sex bloggar. Resultat: Ur analysen av datamaterialet framträdde tre kategorier; den nya vardagen, en känslomässig berg- och dalbana samt ständigt rätta sig efter kroppens begränsningar med sju underkategorier. Konklusion: Denna studies resultat har bidragit med information som med fördel kan användas för att få en ökad förståelse av personer med hematologisk cancer. Denna kunskap kan hjälpa sjuksköterskor att ge en god, patientcentrerad vård och därmed öka patientens välbefinnande. / Background: To go through treatment against haematological cancer means a big change in the daily life. Symptoms and side effects makes a big impact on both body and soul. Haematological cancer includes, in this study, three different types of cancer: leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. The treatments given for haematological cancer involves stem cell transplant, radiation therapy and chemo therapy. Purpose: The purpose with this study was to describe patients’ experiences during treatments for haematological cancer. Method: The data was analyzed through a qualitative analysis of the context. Data were collected from six blogs. Result: Three categories emerged from the analysis; the new situation of the patients everyday life, the emotional rollercoaster and continuously comply with the body's limitations, with seven sub-categories. Conclusion: The result of this study has contributed with further knowledge about persons living with haematological cancer. This knowledge can help nurses give these patients a good, patient-centered care and raise their well-being.

Chronic inflammation is intimately linked with cancer development and progression and therefore reducing or eliminating inflammation represents a logical treatment and prevention strategy. Studies have shown that anti-inflammatory agents have anti-tumour effects in cancers, with reduced metastases and mortality. Current use of anti-inflammatory agents in the treatment and prevention of cancer is limited by their toxicity and side effects. The emerging field of nanotechnology allows the fundamental properties of a drug to be altered, creating a product with improved reactivity and bioavailability, leading to more targeted treatments and reduced dosage. In the present study, the genotoxic effects of three commonly used anti-inflammatory drugs; aspirin, ibuprofen and hydrocortisone, in their bulk and nano forms were evaluated on peripheral blood lymphocytes of healthy donors using the comet assay and the micronucleus assay. In order to determine any anti-cancer effects, these agents were also tested in peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with haematological cancers. The glucocorticoid hydrocortisone was also evaluated for anti-oxidant capacity. Our results demonstrate that the nano versions of each drug produced a different response than the bulk counterpart, indicating that a reduction in particle size had an impact on the reactivity of the drug. Our results also indicate that the nano versions of each drug were less genotoxic than the bulk formulation, further emphasising the potential of nanoparticles as an improvement to current treatment options. We also found an anti-oxidant effect with hydrocortisone, with a more profound effect seen with the nano formulation.

The aim of this study was to provide a short German self-report measurement, assessing subjective CRCI for a broad variety of cancer survivors. For this purpose, the AFI (Attentional Function Index) was translated into German and psychometric properties have been presented in the following publication among a sample of 1312 haematological cancer survivors. In the resulting article the factorial structure of the German translation of the AFI, the internal consistency among the total score and each subscale, construct validity and the associations of the AFI sum score with medical and socio-demographic variables are provided. Comparisons to the English version are additionally drawn. With the validated AFI, researchers and clinicians in German-speaking countries may now have new tool to assess, and thus improve an important component of QoL in cancer survivors [38].

Chronic inflammation is intimately linked with cancer development and progression and therefore reducing or eliminating inflammation represents a logical treatment and prevention strategy. Studies have shown that anti-inflammatory agents have anti-tumour effects in cancers, with reduced metastases and mortality. Current use of anti-inflammatory agents in the treatment and prevention of cancer is limited by their toxicity and side effects. The emerging field of nanotechnology allows the fundamental properties of a drug to be altered, creating a product with improved reactivity and bioavailability, leading to more targeted treatments and reduced dosage. In the present study, the genotoxic effects of three commonly used anti-inflammatory drugs; aspirin, ibuprofen and hydrocortisone, in their bulk and nano forms were evaluated on peripheral blood lymphocytes of healthy donors using the comet assay and the micronucleus assay. In order to determine any anti-cancer effects, these agents were also tested in peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with haematological cancers. The glucocorticoid hydrocortisone was also evaluated for anti-oxidant capacity. Our results demonstrate that the nano versions of each drug produced a different response than the bulk counterpart, indicating that a reduction in particle size had an impact on the reactivity of the drug. Our results also indicate that the nano versions of each drug were less genotoxic than the bulk formulation, further emphasising the potential of nanoparticles as an improvement to current treatment options. We also found an anti-oxidant effect with hydrocortisone, with a more profound effect seen with the nano formulation.