Hematologic Neoplasm

This is a feasibility study to implement a Survivorship Care (SC) Plan for patients with hematologic cancer undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The study evaluates if the intervention is feasible within the Italian national health system, focusing on retention rates, quality of life, unmet needs and caregiver burden

The goal of this study is to enroll at least 10,000 participants nationally including affecteds and unaffecteds via online study portal, collect surveys online and a saliva sample through the mail, sequence DNA, and conduct genetic analyses to identify novel variants and further study known variants associated with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other blood cancers.

Individuals with multiple myeloma (MM) are vulnerable because of the effects of systemic organ damage and the side effects of treatment. A decline in patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and a compromised participation in everyday life was reported. The diagnosis of MM negatively affects the principal informal caregiver. This is a concurrent exploratory mixed methods study that involves the use of a quantitative and a qualitative approach. For the quantitative study, aims are to describe any possible relation between the identified factors with HRQoL and participation in individuals with MM and with reactions to caring and self-efficacy of caregivers. For the qualitative study, aims are to investigate "how" and "why" the disease impacts the daily life of individuals with MM and their caregivers. The final analyses will be based on the comparison of the results of the quantitative phase and the results of the qualitative phase.