Abstract 3350: Not letting the cancer take any more than it had from me: Latina mothers surviving cancer in the Paso del Norte border region
Authors: Reyes Clara , Palacios Rebecca , Sondgeroth Karoline , Lewis Frances 
Published: August 2019

Cancer survivorship research has largely focused on non-Latino white participants, with fewer studies exploring survivorship in multi-ethnic groups. The goal of this study was to explore the experiences of Latina mothers living with cancer in the southwest U.S.-Mexico border region. Diagnosed mothers were asked to describe their (i) challenges to coping with cancer, (ii) facilitators to coping with cancer, and (iii) types and sources of social support for coping with their cancer. Nine Latina mothers, most of whom reported non-localized cancer diagnoses, participated in focus groups or individual interviews in a pilot study. We conducted a secondary analysis of the verbatim transcripts using inductive content analysis adapted from a grounded theory framework. Coding to consensus, systematic peer debriefing, and maintaining an audit trail protected trustworthiness of study results. The core construct Not letting the cancer take any more than it had from me, is grounded in three domains reflecting their challenging position as Latina mothers under the age of 50 living with various types and stages of cancer in a resource-challenged border region. The first domain, Having the most difficult time of my life, was composed of three categories that covered their struggles with cancer treatment (i.e. feeling like treatment is worse than the disease, being scared to look in the mirror, and feeling very alone). The second domain, Figuring out how to live day-by-day, was composed of two categories that captured the impact of cancer on their homes and their need for instrumental support (i.e. being especially challenging on my family and home life and needing other things). The last domain, Giving me the strength to fight and carry on, was composed of the remaining six categories that revealed how the mothers garnered all the resources available to them to physically and mentally overcome the stress of cancer and its treatment (getting support and compassion from medical staff, friends, family, their children, and other cancer patients; trusting God; and not letting the cancer stop them). Latina mothers under the age of 50 living with diverse cancer types and stages on the U.S.-Mexico border described the complexity of factors influencing their survivorship experience and the strategies they used to move forward. Results highlighted the importance of assessing cancer survivorship experiences across cancer types, age groups, regions, and diverse racial/ethnic groups. These findings can be used to develop targeted approaches to improve the quality of survivorship among Latinas.

Citation Format: Clara Reyes, Rebecca Palacios, Karoline Sondgeroth, Frances Lewis. Not letting the cancer take any more than it had from me: Latina mothers surviving cancer in the Paso del Norte border region [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3350.