Hope and quality of life, two central issues for cancer patients: a theoretical analysis.

During the past years, the number of people diagnosed with cancer has increased. Cancer can be a threat to life itself, as well as to the individual's perception of the quality of life. The question of what contributes a clinically significant change or difference in perceived quality of life remains unanswered. Hope is frequently referred to as important for coping with a disease such as cancer. Hope enables people to cope with difficult and stressful situations and suffering. Nevertheless, hope is seldom stressed in definitions of the quality of life for cancer patients and discusses the relationship between hope and quality of life, and hope can be regarded as a coping strategy. From existing theory, hope can be seen as a variable positively contributes to the experience of quality of life. Future research should empirically explore to what extent hope contributes to the adaptive process that maintains the quality of life at an acceptable level despite having cancer.