Current Status and Physicians’ Perspectives of Childhood Cancer Survivorship in Korea: A Nationwide Survey of Pediatric Hematologists/Oncologists

Abstract

Background Data on the status of long-term follow-up (LTFU) care for childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) in Korea is lacking. This study was conducted to evaluate the current status of LTFU care for CCSs and relevant physicians’ perspectives. Methods A nationwide online survey of pediatric hematologists/oncologists in the Republic of Korea was undertaken. Results Overall, 47 of the 74 board-certified Korean pediatric hematologists/oncologists currently providing pediatric hematology/oncology care participated in the survey (response rate = 63.5%). Forty-five of the 47 respondents provided LTFU care for CCSs five years after the completion of primary cancer treatment. However, some of the 45 respondents provided LTFU care only for CCS with late complications or CCSs who requested LTFU care. Twenty of the 45 respondents oversaw LTFU care for adult CCSs, although pediatric hematologists/oncologists experienced more difficulties managing adult CCSs. Many pediatric hematologists/oncologists did not perform the necessary screening test, although CCSs had risk factors for late complications, mostly because of insurance coverage issues and the lack of Korean LTFU guidelines. Regarding a desirable LTFU care system for CCSs in Korea, 27 of the 46 respondents (58.7%) answered that it is desirable to establish a multidisciplinary CCSs care system in which pediatric hematologists/oncologists and adult physicians cooperate. Conclusion The LTFU care system for CCS is underdeveloped in the Republic of Korea. It is urgent to establish an LTFU care system to meet the growing needs of Korean CCSs, which should include Korean CCSs care guidelines, provider education plans, the establishment of multidisciplinary care systems, and a supportive national healthcare policy.

COVID-19 Mortality and Severity in Cancer Patients and Cancer Survivors

“… 7 8 9 10 Their care is focused on health promotion and disease prevention for other conditions as well as monitoring for cancer recurrence. 7 11 12 13 We hypothesized that cancer survivors would have a better prognosis after COVID-19 than patients with cancer diagnosed less than 5 years ago. Therefore, this study aimed to compare and examine the risk of hospitalization, hospitalized patients due to severe state, and death due to COVID-19 not only in patients with and without cancer using propensity score matching but also according to the time since cancer diagnosis, including those of cancer survivors.…”

Commentary on "Long-term endocrine sequelae after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children and adolescents"

“…Every year in the United States, approximately 15,000 children between the ages of 0 and 19 are diagnosed with cancer, with over 85% surviving for at least 5 years [ 2 ]. The majority of patients experience long-term survival, with over 500,000 in the United States and 30,000 in Korea [ 2 , 3 ]. However, childhood cancer survivors undergo the long-term complications including endocrine disorders commonly.…”