A recent study published in the journal Pain found that fear of cancer coming back could be one of the reasons why many young adults who survived breast cancer and gynecological cancer still feel pain and fatigue long after their cancer treatment has ended.
Long-lasting pain related to cancer affects up to 4 out of 10 cancer survivors. Doctors do not fully understand why this pain stays after treatment is finished. One idea, called the Cancer Threat Interpretation model, says that fear of cancer returning can make pain last longer, but there hasn’t been enough research to know if this is true.
This study included 111 survivors between the ages of 18 and 39 who had breast or gynecological cancer. The researchers checked their levels of pain and fear of cancer coming back every two months over three timepoints.
Pain was reported by 46% and fatigue by 49% of participants across timepoints, despite completing treatment over two years since prior.
The results showed that people who had more fear of cancer coming back were more likely to have more pain later. However, having pain was not linked to the same people being more afraid later. The same pattern was seen with fatigue. This suggests that fear may lead to more symptoms, not the other way around.
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“Our findings suggest that addressing fear of cancer recurrence in survivorship care may be helpful for reducing long-term pain and improving overall quality of life,” the researchers said.
In addition to pain and fatigue, the study participants commonly reported hot flashes, bloating and sexual problems.
“Future research should continue to explore the role of psychological factors in shaping the post-treatment experience and consider interventions that target both psychological and physical symptoms to improve outcomes for young cancer survivors,” they said.
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