MCG professor publishes new book on cancer survivorship

Steven S. Coughlin, PhD, professor in the Department of Biostatistics, Data Science and Epidemiology at Augusta University’s Medical College of Georgia, has published a new book, Current Topics in Breast Cancer Survivorship.

The book, published by Cambridge Academic Publishing in England, pulls from the expertise of Coughlin and four fellow Augusta University faculty researchers, all of whom are internationally recognized in their fields, as well as three medical students from MCG.

“I’m very pleased to see this book published because I had the opportunity to work with some amazing researchers from right here at AU and MCG, and we feel very strongly that this book will have a positive impact on those in the many health care fields,” Coughlin said. “One of the key takeaways is how symptoms such as fatigue, pain, depression, sleep disturbance and cognitive impairment may cluster in the same individuals and how symptoms stemming from breast cancer treatment may vary according to age, race and Hispanic ethnicity.”

Coughlin wrote 12 of the 16 chapters in the book, with contributions for the other four chapters coming from Pamela Cromer, DNP, professor in AU’s College of Nursing and the director Costa Layman International Outreach; Avirup Guha, MD, director of the Cardio-Oncology program at the Georgia Cancer Center and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology at MCG; Martha S. Tingen, PhD, professor of medicine and Charles W. Linder, MD, Distinguished Chair in Pediatrics at MCG, the Georgia Cancer Center and Georgia Prevention Institute of MCG and professor of nursing and graduate studies; and Meng-Han Tsai, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine and Georgia Prevention Institute.

The three medical students from MCG who contributed to the book are Emily Hicks, Vani Senthil and Ankita D. Vayalapalli.

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Current Topics in Breast Cancer Survivorship is divided into six sections. The first section provides information about comorbid conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity while the second section provides information about lifestyle factors such as physical activity, diet, nutrition and social determinants of health. The third section provides information about health disparities by age and race/ethnicity, and the fourth section provides information about symptoms, including fatigue, sleep disturbance, pain, depression, anxiety and cognitive impairment. The fifth section provides information about health services topics, including survivorship care plans and financial toxicity, with the sixth section providing a summary and conclusions.

“The chapters included in this book provide important information about the health and well-being of breast cancer survivors, including comorbid conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity; physical activity, diet and nutrition; social determinants of health; health disparities; symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disturbance, depression and anxiety; cognitive impairment; and health care services topics such as cancer survivorship care plans and financial toxicity,” Coughlin said.

Coughlin has written 16 books before this one, including Black Health in the South; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Chronic Diseases; Handbook of Community-Based Participatory Research; the first and second editions of Case Studies on Public Health Ethics and Ethics in Epidemiology and Public Health Practice: Collected Works; and the first, second and third editions of Ethics and Epidemiology.