UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective: The number of people living years beyond a cancer diagnosis continues to increase as advances in early detection and treatment strategies become more effective. Yet there is lack of knowledge about long-term sequelae, clinical follow-up, ongoing concerns and appropriate health care for cancer survivors.

Cancer survivors include individuals cured of disease as well as patients with recurrences or resistant disease requiring ongoing treatment. Follow-up care is often provided by non-oncology health care providers who lack specialty expertise. Furthermore there is a significant lack of data on long-term experiences and follow up of cancer survivors.

Methods: This presentation will discuss results from the “State of the Science Conference on Nursing Approaches for Managing Long-Term Sequelae of Cancer and Cancer Treatment” held in Philadelphia in July 2005. The goals of the symposium were to develop research priorities and recommendations for clinical care, education, and policy related to nursing care for survivors of cancer.

Results: The presentation will highlight the state of the science of long-term cancer survivorship on common problems facing long term cancer survivors (including, family and psychosocial issues, neuropathic pain, sleep disturbances and fatigue, cognitive changes, osteoporosis, cardiovascular changes, and male and female reproductive and hormonal changes) and nursing approaches to address these problems; identified gaps in the science; research priorities; barriers to improving the care of this population; strategies for overcoming or reducing these barriers across a variety of delivery systems.