NCCN Guidelines® Insights: Distress Management, Version 1.2026
These NCCN Guidelines for Distress Management discuss the identification and treatment of psychosocial problems in patients with cancer. They are intended to assist oncology teams to identify patients who require referral to psychosocial resources and to give oncology teams guidance on interventions for patients with significant distress. These guidelines also provide guidance for social workers, certified chaplains, and mental health professionals by describing treatments and interventions for various psychosocial problems as they relate to patients with cancer. These NCCN Guidelines Insights summarize the panel's most recent recommendations regarding standards of care for distress management in patients with cancer and implementation of these standards, including application of evidence-based care delivery models, such as the collaborative care model.
Authors
- Barbara L. Andersen
- Jill P. Farabelli
- Cheyenne Corbett
- Jessica Vanderlan
- Heather E. Leeper (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2840-611X)
- Alan Valentine (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8142-4005)
- Susan Darlow
- Shehzad K. Niazi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9925-331X)
- Benjamin W. Brewer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4449-8221)
- Vinay Rao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5085-5045)
- Jennifer A. Keller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0417-4237)
- Sofia F. Garcia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3300-385X)
- Chao‐Hui Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4690-7682)
- Megan E. Pailler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4139-6614)
- Sean Z. Hutchinson
- Francine Parnes
- Chloé E. Atreya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2954-1727)
- Amy Horyna
- Sarah Montgomery (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4189-5416)
- Eli D. Scher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9004-5488)
- George Handzo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6683-7303)
- A. Usher
- Shelley A. Johns (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5730-1822)
- IIana Braun
- Shannon La Cava
- Sara Martin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0304-6605)
- Michelle B. Riba
- Stewart B. Fleishman
- Debraj Mukherjee
- Lora M.A. Thompson
- Donna B. Greenberg
- William S. Breitbart
- Yamna Channa
- Xiomara Rocha-Cadman
- Jesse R. Fann
- Jessica Schuster
- Sheila Lahijani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8757-0492)
Institutions
- Fox Chase Cancer Center (US)
- Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (US)
- Barnes-Jewish Hospital (US)
- City Of Hope National Medical Center (US)
- Cleveland Clinic (US)
- Cape Town HVTN Immunology Laboratory / Hutchinson Centre Research Institute of South Africa (ZA)
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US)
- Breast Cancer Research Foundation (US)
- University of Utah (US)
- The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (US)
- Huntsman Cancer Institute (US)
- Cancer Institute (WIA) (IN)
- Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (US)
- WinnMed (US)
- Yale Cancer Center (US)
- Moffitt Cancer Center (US)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
- Fred Hutch Cancer Center (US)
- Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- Jewish Hospital (US)
- University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center (US)
- Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (US)
- University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center (US)
- Duke Medical Center (US)
- University of Colorado Cancer Center (US)
- Patient Advocate Foundation (US)
- Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center (US)
- Smilow Cancer Hospital (US)
- UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (US)
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University
- Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center
- University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center
- UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center
- Stanford Cancer Institute
- Duke Cancer Institute
- Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center
- UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center
- O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center
- National Comprehensive Cancer Network
- Marymount University (US)
- Indiana University (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- University of Colorado Denver (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.6004/jnccn.2026.0018
- Primary Topic
- Cancer survivorship and care
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00