Q and A with Cancer Survivorship Researcher Patricia Moreno
The Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center psychologist explains why survivorship begins at diagnosis and how evidence-based care and research are improving emotional well-being and quality of life for people with cancer.
Patricia Moreno, Ph.D., leads the Cancer Community Research, Engagement and Support (CARES) Lab at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Guided by the quotation, “Survival is how long someone lives, and survivorship is how well someone lives,” Dr. Moreno is a licensed clinical psychologist, lead of evidence-based survivorship and supportive care at Sylvester and an associate professor of public health sciences at the Miller School.
Her research focuses on the psychosocial and other factors that shape quality of life for patients and survivors across the cancer continuum.
“Length of life is not the same as quality of life,” she explained. “In the field of survivorship, we focus on how well someone is living beyond their diagnosis and treatment.”
Dr. Moreno discussed her work in the following interview, which is edited for length and clarity.
Please tell us about your role at Sylvester.
I work with a team to ensure that care for cancer survivors is consistent with evidence-based guidelines from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Commission on Cancer and other professional organizations. I’ve helped develop and implement guideline-concordant distress screening that’s integrated into the electronic health record. I’ve also co-designed the screening and triage workflow to provide care for cancer patients who are experiencing suicidal ideation.
This role is done in close collaboration with Sylvester Survivorship and Supportive Care Institute Director Frank Penedo, Ph.D., and other institute leaders.
June is Survivorship Awareness Month. Why is it important to understand cancer as a continuum, including survivorship?
For a long time, the word “survivorship” often referred to the phase after completing cancer treatment. Now, it refers to anyone who is living beyond a diagnosis of cancer. This includes people who have just been diagnosed, those who are in treatment, those who will continue to be in treatment indefinitely, those who are receiving life-prolonging care for advanced cancer and those who have finished treatment.
This definition is much more inclusive of everyone who has been impacted by cancer, regardless of where they are in their journey. Given the growing number of people living beyond a cancer diagnosis in the United States and across the world, improving their emotional well-being, their overall health and their quality of life is a major public health concern.
As a clinical psychologist, what drew you to helping people who have cancer?
Within the first two years of my undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin, I became interested in clinical health psychology and how to support emotional well-being in people diagnosed with cancer. A cancer diagnosis can be challenging and stressful. As clinical psychologists, we’re well-suited to support someone with cancer and help them cope with the impact of the diagnosis and treatment.
This work is different from the work of many of my clinical psychology colleagues. It’s normal and expected to experience some psychological distress in response to a cancer diagnosis. Cancer commonly also raises existential concerns and meaningful reflections about what someone’s priorities in life are, how they want to spend their time, what gives them a sense of purpose and how they define themselves beyond their work roles and physical abilities.
Therapy with someone who has cancer has to be approached with nuance and care. It truly is an honor to be allowed to walk alongside someone in this journey.
What’s an example of your research that supports quality of life for people with cancer in innovative ways?
We have a new grant from the National Cancer Institute that focuses on quality of life among people who have metastatic cancer and are starting a form of immunotherapy called immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Most studies have measured side effects using reports from the oncology team, which is standard in clinical trials. But few studies have measured side effects from patients’ self-reports of their experience.
We are following patients for two years to measure what side effects emerge first, how severe they are, whether they improve or worsen over time, how they impact the patient’s quality of life and whether they impact the patient’s ability to continue their treatment and the success of the treatment. Expanded self-report measures will allow us to capture some of the side effects that are not in the most commonly used measures, which were developed for chemotherapy and radiation.
We’re also using machine learning to predict which patients are at higher risk of experiencing these side effects throughout treatment.
What activities do you enjoy outside of work?
I enjoy running, reading novels, going to reformer Pilates classes, traveling and spending time with my family and friends.
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A mother-daughter initiative, “More for Mom,” delivers comfort and support to chemotherapy patients at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center hosted a survivorship celebration honoring life beyond cancer through connection and supportive care.
Tags: cancer research, Cancer Support Services, cancer survivorship, Dr. Patricia Moreno, immune system, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sylvester’s Survivorship and Supportive Care Institute