Study of @neWorld: A Virtual Community for Children With Cancer - Full Text View

Purpose

RATIONALE: Using an Internet Web site that enables children with cancer to interact online with classmates, participate in classroom activities, get easy-to-read medical information, and chat with family members, medical staff, and other children with cancer may help children cope with isolation, fear, and decreased self-esteem.

PURPOSE: This phase I/II trial is studying the effectiveness of an Internet Web site in providing social support and education to children who are undergoing treatment for cancer.

Condition	Intervention	Phase
Cancer-Related Problem/Condition Leukemia Lymphoma Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific	Procedure: complementary or alternative medicine procedure Procedure: management of therapy complications Procedure: psychosocial assessment and care	Phase I Phase II

MedlinePlus related topics:

Cancer Hodgkin's Disease Leukemia, Childhood Lymphoma

U.S. FDA Resources

Study Type:	Interventional
Study Design:	Other

Official Title:	@neWorld: A Virtual Community For Kids With Cancer

Further study details as provided by National Cancer Institute (NCI):

Study Start Date:

April 2003

Detailed Description:

OBJECTIVES:

Develop an Internet-based application that allows pediatric patients with cancer to enter a virtual community with the following capabilities:
- Interact with classmates and participate in classroom activities via e-mail, chat groups, online field trips, art studio, music room, and game room
- Identify and interact with a community of peers with similar medical conditions
- Access a dictionary to get medical information in understandable terms
- Interact with the medical community online
- Interact with family members online
Determine the acceptability of this program among groups of these patients and their classmates, teachers, family members, and healthcare providers using focus groups.
Determine the effect of this program on self-esteem, coping behaviors, perceived social support, cancer-relevant medical knowledge, and feelings of control over health destiny in these patients.
Determine the effect of this program on the performance of these patients in school.
Determine the effect of this program in alleviating psychological distress in these patients.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.

Phase I: Students, family members, teachers, and health providers participate in focus groups to provide system design and implementation input and to assess overall acceptability of a prototype Internet-based application for pediatric cancer patients.
Phase II: Patients are assigned to 1 of 2 groups, based on participating center.
- Group 1: Patients have access to and utilize the Internet-based application @neWorld.
- Group 2: Patients do not have access to or utilize @neWorld. In both groups, patients complete questionnaires measuring psychological distress, quality of life, self-esteem, coping behaviors, perceived academic and social competence, perceived social support, cancer-relevant medical knowledge, feelings of control over health destiny, utilization of psychological services, and performance in school at baseline and 3 and 6 months.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 94 patients (44 for group 1 and 50 for group 2) will be accrued for this study.

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:	10 Years to 15 Years
Genders Eligible for Study:	Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:	No

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

Diagnosis of cancer
Currently receiving treatment for cancer

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

10 to 15

Performance status

Active

Life expectancy

Not specified

Hematopoietic

Not specified

Hepatic

Not specified

Renal

Not specified

Other

Able to read and speak English

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

Not specified

Chemotherapy

Not specified

Endocrine therapy

Not specified

Radiotherapy

Not specified

Surgery

Not specified

Contacts and Locations

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00070421

Locations


United States, Illinois
	Leap of Faith Technologies, Incorporated
	Crystal Lake, Illinois, United States, 60014

Sponsors and Collaborators

Leap of Faith Technologies

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators


Study Chair:	Barbara Rapchak	Leap of Faith Technologies

More Information

Clinical trial summary from the National Cancer Institute's PDQ® database This link exits the ClinicalTrials.gov site

Study ID Numbers:	CDR0000334398, LFT-@NEWORLD, WCCC-2000-194
First Received:	October 3, 2003
Last Updated:	October 18, 2008
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00070421
Health Authority:	United States: Federal Government

Keywords provided by National Cancer Institute (NCI):

psychosocial effects/treatment

unspecified childhood solid tumor, protocol specific

childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in remission

childhood acute myeloid leukemia in remission

recurrent childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

recurrent childhood acute myeloid leukemia

recurrent childhood large cell lymphoma

recurrent childhood lymphoblastic lymphoma

recurrent childhood small noncleaved cell lymphoma

stage I childhood Hodgkin lymphoma

stage I childhood large cell lymphoma

stage I childhood lymphoblastic lymphoma

stage I childhood small noncleaved cell lymphoma

stage II childhood Hodgkin lymphoma

stage II childhood large cell lymphoma

stage II childhood lymphoblastic lymphoma

stage II childhood small noncleaved cell lymphoma

stage III childhood Hodgkin lymphoma

stage III childhood large cell lymphoma

stage III childhood lymphoblastic lymphoma

stage III childhood small noncleaved cell lymphoma

stage IV childhood Hodgkin lymphoma

stage IV childhood large cell lymphoma

stage IV childhood lymphoblastic lymphoma

stage IV childhood small noncleaved cell lymphoma

recurrent/refractory childhood Hodgkin lymphoma

Study placed in the following topic categories:

Leukemia, Lymphoid

Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse

Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma

Immunoproliferative Disorders

Hodgkin's disease

Acute myelogenous leukemia

Lymphoblastic lymphoma

Leukemia, Myeloid

Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute

Small non-cleaved cell lymphoma

Recurrence

Lymphoma, large-cell

Leukemia

Lymphatic Diseases

Hodgkin lymphoma, childhood

Lymphoproliferative Disorders

Acute myelocytic leukemia

Lymphoma

Hodgkin Disease

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Neoplasms

Neoplasms by Histologic Type

Immune System Diseases

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on November 30, 2008

Sponsors and Collaborators:	Leap of Faith Technologies National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Information provided by:	National Cancer Institute (NCI)
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00070421