Sense of coherence in lung cancer patients: Association with coping, immune function, and fatigue

Sense of coherence (SOC) reflects the degree to which an individual perceives their world as comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful. Among cancer populations, SOC has been linked with greater quality of life and reduced mortality, suggesting that SOC may serve as a marker of resilience in the context of chronic disease. Utilizing a published adaptation of the transactional model of stress and coping, we hypothesized greater SOC would be associated with adaptive coping, more regulated cytokine response, and lower fatigue. Sixty-two lung cancer patients provided self-report data on SOC, coping, and fatigue. PBMC were incubated with stimulators of acquired and innate immunity (PHA, LPS), and cytokines were measured (pro-inflammatory: IL-1beta IL-6, TNF-alpha; Type 1/TH1: IFN-gamma; Type 2/TH2: IL-5). Linear regressions tested hypotheses. Greater SOC was associated with emotionally expressive coping ( p  = 0.005), an attenuated IL-5 response to PHA ( p  = 0.038) and IFN-gamma response to LPS (p=.001); and lower fatigue ( p