Ph.D. Program in Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia.
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia.
J Psychosoc Oncol. 2024;42(6):859-874. doi: 10.1080/07347332.2024.2345112. Epub 2024 May 2.
Childhood or adolescent cancer survivors (CACS) are an understudied population in Colombia and, in general, in Central and South America. Worldwide, studies typically focus on high-income settings while approaching CACS' experiences from a biomedical or psychological perspective. However, both perspectives miss an important aspect of survivorship after childhood or adolescent cancer: the affected individual's subjective experiences of having a disabled body. This qualitative study aimed to explore the embodied experiences of Colombian adults who survived cancer during their childhood or adolescence to better understand how CACS relate to their altered body and world.
By integrating phenomenological insights and conducting comprehensive life-story interviews, we explored the various ways in which survivors' cancer experiences affect their bodily sense of self-from the acute phase of the disease until well into adulthood. A total of ten life-stories interviews and one focus group were carried out with seven CACS. All participants were survivors of a different type of childhood/adolescent cancer. The results were analyzed thematically, focusing on the embodied aspects of participants' experiences.
We developed three main themes regarding the embodied cancer experience among participating CACS: Firstly, participants' body changes because of the cancer and its treatment, which makes them aware of their body. Secondly, they adapt to this experience in different bodily ways. Finally, they carry bodily traces of their cancer experience in the present as well as into the future.
The CACS participating in this study report that their experience with cancer has been embodied throughout their lives, changing their sense of their body and how they relate to it, and leaving traces into the present and their imagined future.
儿童或青少年癌症幸存者（CACS）是哥伦比亚乃至中美洲和南美洲研究不足的人群。在全球范围内，研究通常侧重于高收入环境，而从生物医学或心理学的角度来探讨 CACS 的经历。然而，这两种观点都忽略了儿童或青少年癌症后生存的一个重要方面：受影响个体对残疾身体的主观体验。本定性研究旨在探讨哥伦比亚成年癌症幸存者的身体体验，以更好地理解 CACS 如何与他们改变的身体和世界相关联。
通过整合现象学的见解并进行全面的生活故事访谈，我们探讨了癌症经历如何从疾病的急性期一直到成年期影响幸存者身体自我意识的各种方式。对七名 CACS 进行了十次生活故事访谈和一次焦点小组。所有参与者均为不同类型的儿童/青少年癌症的幸存者。对结果进行了主题分析，重点关注参与者经历的身体方面。
我们针对参与的 CACS 的身体癌症体验开发了三个主要主题：首先，癌症及其治疗导致参与者的身体发生变化，使他们意识到自己的身体。其次，他们以不同的身体方式适应这种体验。最后，他们在现在和未来都带着癌症经历的身体痕迹。
参与本研究的 CACS 报告说，他们一生都在经历癌症，改变了他们对身体的感觉以及与身体的关系，并留下了现在和想象中的未来的痕迹。
