Adult Cancer Survivorship: Evolution, Research, and Planning Care

Abstract

Increases in the number of adult cancer survivors and other issues have forced the oncology community to examine, evaluate, and alter the cancer care paradigm. Pediatric oncologists are grappling with the task of transitioning a growing population of adult survivors of childhood cancer to adult medicine, while oncologists caring for adult cancer survivors are seeking models of follow-up care that are acceptable to patients and providers. Workforce and access-to-care issues suggest that primary care providers will see more cancer survivors in their practices across time, although it is unclear how prepared they are for this task. Translational research is needed to develop evidence-based clinical care and survivorship care plans. A broad picture of the evolving field of adult cancer survivorship is presented. The recent focus on young adult survivors of childhood cancer, an overview of translational research needed to inform the physical and psychosocial care of cancer survivors, and the roles of primary and specialty care providers managing this population is examined. Finally, an overview of evolving treatment summary and care plan initiatives is presented.

Are survivorship care plans responsive to African-American breast cancer survivors?: voices of survivors and advocates

“…Participants stated that the SCP template should include a section on healthy lifestyle practices that are relevant to AABCS [16,17]. The nutrition recommendation must include foods that are enjoyed by AABCS, and the physical activities should include routines that are favored by AABCS.…”

“…Several advocacy groups and professional organizations have developed SCP templates and forms; albeit, there still remains a lack of consensus on the exact components and structure of an SCP [16,17]. As the push to provide cancer survivors with SCPs increases, SCP template developers are likely to encounter increased challenges in their decisionmaking processes around what SCP components to prioritize.…”

Response to a Treatment Summary and Care Plan Among Adult Survivors of Pediatric and Young Adult Cancer

“…[9][10][11] Treatment summaries and survivorship care plans have been proposed as one method to improve communication and riskbased care. Pediatric oncologists have been creating cancer treatment summaries at the end of therapy for many decades, 12,13 but these documents were often independent of a plan for follow-up care. 9 The Institute of Medicine, the Children's Oncology Group, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, and others have endorsed a combined cancer treatment summary and care plan.…”

Desarrollo del cuestionario español para medir necesidades no cubiertas de supervivientes de cáncer (CESC)

“…Muchas personas que han finalizado los tratamientos oncológicos deben aprender a gestionar las secuelas de la enfermedad: fatiga, dolor, problemas psicológicos y emocionales, dificultades con la sexualidad y la intimidad, etc. ; además de barreras en la reintegración a la vida laboral (7)(8)(9) . A ello se añade que los pacientes deben aprender a convivir con la incertidumbre de una posible recaída, y con los controles y el seguimiento clínico que no siempre se administra de manera estandarizada (10,11) .…”