JMIR Cancer

The treatment for cancer can have a negative impact not only on physical well-being but also on mental health and the quality of life (QoL). Health apps enable the monitoring of different parameters, but to date, there are only few that support patients with cancer and none that focuses on the assessment of QoL. Furthermore, patients as stakeholders are often only integrated at the late stage of the development process, if at all.

eHealth systems have been increasingly used to manage depressive symptoms in patients with somatic illnesses. However, understanding the factors that drive their use, particularly among patients with breast and prostate cancer, remains a critical area of research.

Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer mortality among women globally. The use of mobile health tools such as apps and games is increasing rapidly, even in low- and middle-income countries, to promote early diagnosis and to manage care and support of survivors and patients.

Despite the benefits of physical activity (PA) for individuals with cancer, most remain insufficiently active. Exercise oncology interventions can improve PA levels. Individuals struggle to maintain PA levels after interventions because of persistent psychological and environmental PA barriers. Health technology (eHealth) may address some PA barriers and deliver effective, scalable PA interventions in oncology, yet its effectiveness for changing PA levels remains mixed. Using eHealth to support PA maintenance among rural populations with cancer, who may need greater PA support given lower PA levels and worse health outcomes, remains under-studied.

Prostate cancer is a common form of cancer that is often treated with radical prostatectomy, which can leave patients with urinary incontinence and sexual dysfunction. Self-care (pelvic floor muscle exercises and physical activity) is recommended to reduce the side effects. As more and more men are living in the aftermath of treatment, effective rehabilitation support is warranted. Digital self-care support has the potential to improve patient outcomes, but it has rarely been evaluated longitudinally in randomized controlled trials. Therefore, we developed and evaluated the effects of digital self-care support (electronic Patient Activation in Treatment at Home [ePATH]) on prostate-specific symptoms.

Breast cancer subtyping is a crucial step in determining therapeutic options, but the molecular examination based on immunohistochemical staining is expensive and time-consuming. Deep learning opens up the possibility to predict the subtypes based on the morphological information from hematoxylin and eosin staining, a much cheaper and faster alternative. However, training the predictive model conventionally requires a large number of histology images, which is challenging to collect by a single institute.

Medication adherence is crucial for improving clinical outcomes in the treatment of patients with cancer. The lack of adherence and adverse drug reactions can reduce the effectiveness of cancer therapy including the quality of life. The commonly used intervention methods for medication adherence continue to evolve, and the age of fifth-generation (5G) messaging has arrived.

Cancer is related to not only physical but also mental suffering. Notably, body image disturbances are highly relevant to cancer-related changes often persisting beyond recovery from cancer. Scalable and low-barrier interventions that can be blended with face-to-face psychotherapy for cancer survivors are highly warranted.

Appropriate annual screenings for colorectal cancer (CRC) are an essential preventive measure for the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Studies have shown that CRC screening rates are influenced by various social determinants of health (SDOH) factors, including race, ethnicity, and geography. According to 2018 national data, participation in screening is lowest among Hispanic or Latinx individuals (56.1%). At an urban Federally Qualified Health Center, a quality improvement project was conducted to evaluate a texting program with a motivational fotonovela—a short narrative comic. Fotonovelas have previously been used in programs to improve knowledge of cervical cancer and human papillomavirus, vaccinations, and treatments for depression.

Twitter has become a popular platform for individuals to broadcast their daily experiences and opinions on a wide range of topics and emotions. Tweets from patients with cancer could offer insights into their needs. However, limited research has been conducted using Twitter data to understand the needs of patients with cancer despite the substantial amount of health-related data posted on the platform daily.

Cancer treatment misinformation, or false claims about alternative cures, often spreads faster and farther than true information on social media. Cancer treatment misinformation can harm the psychosocial and physical health of individuals with cancer and their cancer care networks by causing distress and encouraging people to abandon support, potentially leading to deviations from evidence-based care. There is a pressing need to understand how cancer treatment misinformation is shared and uncover ways to reduce misinformation.

Mobile health (mHealth) tools were developed during the past decades and are increasingly used by patients in cancer care too. Scientific research in the development of mHealth services is required in order to meet the various needs of patients and test usability.