Can Turning To Faith Help You During A Cancer Journey? Some People, And Studies, Say Yes.

And we have reason to believe that faith plays a very important role for some people when they’re considering treatment options. In a study published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers interviewed 100 patients with advanced lung cancer, their caregivers, and 257 medical oncologists and asked them to rank how factors like the cancer doctor’s recommendation, faith in God, the ability of treatment to cure disease, side effects, a family doctor’s recommendation, spouse’s recommendation, and children’s recommendation influenced treatment decisions.

The results of this study showed that while all groups ranked the oncologist’s recommendation as most important, patients and caregivers ranked faith in God second, and physicians ranked it last. This suggests that, for some people, faith is an important factor in medical decision-making, more so than even the efficacy of treatment.

Additionally, a study published in The Journal of Medicine and Life suggests that “religious beliefs and religious belongings can be a real relief and can have an excellent effect on the future of the patients.” The researchers even go as far as to say that there is “a significant relationship between praying and life expectancy” and “the patients can overcome their illnesses with the help of praying and of other religious actions, thus helping them gain more power and being able to control their illnesses, as they know a lot about their sickness. Therefore, they can stand the pain and suffering and become hopeful to future.”

The National Cancer Institute refers to the act of cancer patients relying on spirituality as “spiritual coping.” It may help decrease “anxiety, depression, anger and discomfort.”

Turning to Faith During a Cancer Journey

For some people, turning to faith can be a great way to keep spirits high when cancer starts taking an emotional and/or physical toll. New York City Presbyterian Pastor Tom Evans previously spoke with SurvivorNet about the importance of finding ways to cope with the complex web of feelings you may be experiencing after a cancer diagnosis.

Faith Perspective: Opening Yourself Up to Others After a Cancer Diagnosis

“It is important to reach out in a simple prayer to God, even if you have never prayed before, you don’t know what to say, a heartfelt plea, “God, help me, be with me,” Pastor Evans told SurvivorNet. “You can reach out to God, and you can reach out to people, your friends and family and say, I can’t do this on my own. I need you,”

“It’s in that willingness to be open and to receive that we can actually find something deeper that we never would encounter without this hardship.”

For Sharonda Vincent, faith played a huge role in helping her get through her stage 2B breast cancer battle.

“I knew that if I just put my faith and trust in God, that I would be okay,” Vincent previously told SurvivorNet.

"I Had A Talk With God And I Knew I'd Be Okay"

She was diagnosed after finding a lump in her left breast the day before her thirtieth birthday, with just over a month to go before her wedding. She initially felt like her concerns were dismissed by doctors, but follow-up tests confirmed Vincent’s worries.

“It was hard for me,” she said. “I felt as if I was being punished.”

Thankfully, chemotherapy, radiation, and hormone replacement proved to be a successful treatment regimen for Vincent. Now, she wants others to be inspired by her story.

“If I had one piece of advice to give to someone who was newly diagnosed with breast cancer, that advice would be to not give up hope, to live every day as if it was their last day, to educate themselves,” she said. “I would let them know that it’s OK to cry.

“It’s OK to have days where they just want to be alone… But I would just push them to live a long, happy life because breast cancer it’s not the end of the world.”

Putting Your Trust In God

Monica Layton also believes in the power of faith during the fight against cancer. She turned to her church congregation for support as she battled ovarian cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic and then went through recovery.

Ovarian cancer survivor Monica Layton shares how her church was her biggest support system.

“[I’ve] gone to the same church for a long time, so it’s like another family that really supports me,” she told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. We were Episcopalian, and when I was having surgery, my priest came to the hospital and stayed and prayed with my family the whole time. “It was a long surgery. And then he came back to the hospital every day to pray with me.”

In addition to praying for her, Layton’s church also sent flowers, cards, and a prayer blanket and often visited her.

“They were so kind,” Layton said. I think my faith has been very important and crucial for me. Just the prayer really helps, I think.”

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