ABSTRACT
More than 8 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed worldwide during the course of one year (Parkin, Pisani, & Ferlay, 1999). The number of new cancer cases has increased by 37% over the last 15 years, a growth rate higher than that of the world's population (Parkin et al., 1999). The most recent global estimates suggest that in one year cancer causes more than 5 million deaths, with 55% of those deaths occurring in developing countries (Parkin et al., 1999). In the United States alone, more than 1,500 people die every day from cancer. Each of these deaths has had a tremendous impact on the American family with estimates that three out of four families will be faced with the crisis of cancer (American Cancer Society [ACS], 1990; Zimpfer, 1992).
