Customized Care Plans for Cancer Survivors
Thanks to earlier detection and better treatments, millions of people can now call themselves cancer survivors. But once the strict regimen of blood tests, chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery is over and the patient leaves the cancer center, what do they need to do to keep that precious title?
The stark reality is that many survivors and physicians outside of the specialty don’t really know.
The American Society for Clinical Oncology is trying to solve that problem by publishing customized care plans tailored to meet the specialized medical needs of survivors.
ASCO has already posted detailed checklists for breast and colorectal cancers and work has begun on another one for lung cancer. The Society’s also planning a more generalized plan for malignancies which are less common in the population.
The two-part guides are free to download or reproduce and can be customized to fit the requirements of the individual user. The first section contains the patient’s treatment summary including specific cancer type and stage along with lymph node and genetic test results and their specialist’s prognosis. The second tells which appointments are recommended, when to have them, possible delayed side of effects of cancer treatments, and symptoms to watch out for. Patients can keep the plans for their own reference and make copies as needed for their other healthcare providers.
That way if a breast cancer survivor gets chest pains a couple years from now the treating doctor knows to check for heart damage resulting from radiation treatments, and so on.
Plan creators hope oncologists and their patients will embrace the new product and use it to improve their overall quality of care. As one physician put it,
“I personally think it’s the responsibility of every treating oncologist to have this information available. You did the treatment…your responsibility is also the aftercare.”
Dr Aziza Shad
Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
Georgetown University Hospital
Congress is considering legislation which would require Medicare to pay for cancer survivor plans.
Source: FOX NEWS
Related Links: msn.com; survivorshipguidelines.org; usatoday.com
Related Video:
Related Podcast – Cancer Answers: A Discussion of Life After Cancer from Yale Cancer Center Answers
Tags: Dr Patricia Ganz; Dr Edward Chu; WNPR Connecticut Public Radio
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