Abstract

There is substantial international interest in the health care needs of cancer survivors. This stems from the large and growing prevalence of cancer survivors due to growth and aging of the population and improved survival through earlier diagnosis and treatment. It is estimated that approximately 3% of the population in developed countries are cancer survivors. For the major adult cancers and many paediatric cancers, improvements in survival have led to a shift in perspective from cancer being a life threatening disease to a chronic disease. Accordingly, the concept of cancer survivorship now emphasizes the importance of long-term follow-up care, late-effects of cancer treatments, as well as general medical and preventive care. Cancer survivorship brings new challenges and opportunities for both cancer systems and broader health care systems. There is a need for research on cancer survivorship in order to develop a strong evidentiary base upon which to base survivorship care. This presentation will give a general overview of the epidemiology of cancer survivorship and describe three specific topics of cancer survivorship research: 1) long-term follow-up care; 2) cancer survivorship care plans; 3) and general medical and preventive health care needs of cancer survivors. A framework for cancer survivorship research will be presented. The results from original research will be presented.