Purpose: Cancer survivors and family caregivers may experience a vague sense of fear or worry about the possibility of recurrence.The family caregivers of cancer survivors experience numerous psychological hardships because, depending on the patient’s state, they must play various roles and accompany the patient through a series of events. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate the nature and structure of the experiences of family caregivers of cancer survivors in relation to the fear of cancer recurrence. Additionally, it sought to obtain the central meanings associated with these experiences. Methods: We recruited four adult family caregivers of patients who were diagnosed with cancer between February and October 2020. The caregiver participants voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. To analyze their experiences regarding fear of cancer recurrence, we collected data using the qualitative case study and by conducting individual in-depth interviews. Results: Family caregivers’ experiences comprised four themes (“Standing at the edge of a cliff,” “Ambushed by worries,” “Anxiety I never want to experience again,” and “Making efforts to relieve anxiety”) and 11 subthemes. Conclusion Family caregivers of cancer survivors experience daily psychological hardships owing to fear of cancer recurrence. It is important to identify the unmet needs of family caregivers and provide practical and professional nursing interventions.

Over the past three decades, human pancreatic islet isolation and transplantation techniques have developed as a routine clinical procedure for selected patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. However, due to the donor shortage and required chronic systemic immunosuppression, the widespread application of islet transplantation is limited. To overcome these limitations, providing a physical barrier to transplanted islet cells with encapsulating biomaterial has emerged as a promising approach to enhance engraftment and promote islet survival post-transplantation. Alginate has been considered to be a reliable biomaterial, as it enhances islet survival and does not hamper hormone secretion. Alginate-catechol (Al-CA) hydrogel was reported to provide high mechanical strength and chemical stability without deformation over a wide range of pH values. In this study, we, demonstrated, for the first time in the literature, that encapsulation of murine pancreatic islet cells with Al-CA hydrogel does not induce cytotoxicity ex vivo for an extended period; however, it does markedly abate glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Catechol should not be considered as a constituent for alginate gelation for encapsulating islet cells in the application of islet transplantation.
Architectural Accessibility ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 ; Humans ; Hydrogel ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Immunosuppression ; Insulin* ; Islets of Langerhans Transplantation ; Islets of Langerhans* ; Temefos ; Tissue Donors