CENTRO DI RIFERIMENTO ONCOLOGICO
Technology Transfer Opportunities Contact: Ermes Mestroni emestroni@cro.it
PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY CFSS COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING SELF-ASSESSMENT SCALE Technology Overview Cognitive Function refers to intellectual processes and all aspects of perception, thinking, reasoning, and remembering that are key in maintaining personal and social independence, working capability, and associated quality of life. Surgical treatment of Central Nervous System tumors, as well as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and hormone-therapy, could induce transitory or long-term cognitive impairment due to damaged encephalic tissues or blood-vessels. Within the mission of contributing to patients’ bio-psycho-social comfort at each phase of the disease (diagnosis / long-term survivorship / end of life) the Unit of Oncological Psychology at CRO Aviano aims at developing novel instruments for the detection of psycho-social factors e.g. cognitive impairment that interfere with optimum quality of life, or adapting existing instruments to different cultural frameworks and research fields.
Advantages √ rapid screening tools for the assessment of cognitive deficit in oncological patients; √ comparison of patient’s subjective perception and cognitive function through questionnaires and objective data from neuropsychological batteries; √ adaptability to other non-neurological populations.
Development Stage Construct validity, internal consistency, and acceptability of the self-assessment tools were proved through a broad subset of approx. 300 patients included in general medicine studies. Ongoing validation through subsets of cancer patients on follow-up (1 year after diagnosis, 3 years after diagnosis) and longterm cancer survivors (5 years after end of treatment, disease-free survivors).
Looking for ⇒ Pharmaceutical companies interested in promoting the self-assessment instruments (general medicine and medical departments incl. oncology divisions), ⇒ Researchers and other professionals interested in validating the instruments (other populations).
More Information M. Antonietta Annunziata Unit of Oncological Psychology annunziata@cro.it +39-0434-659258