Follow-up Care Us by Survivors (FOCUS study)
There are an estimated 8.9 million cancer survivors in the United States today. Due to more people undergoing cancer screening, improving screening technologies, efficacious new therapies diffusing into clinical practice, the population aging, and deaths from cardiovascular disease continuing to decline, the number of cancer survivors is expected to continue to grow. Cancer, once uniformly fatal, has become, for most, a chronic illness. There are many important issues related to treatment decisions: the impact of long-term (persistent) or late medical effects of cancer treatment on health and quality of life, and long-term follow-up care needs (related to cancer as well as other chronic cormorbid conditions). Despite their potentially health limiting impact, the medical sequelae of cancer and its treatment, and the follow-up care practices relevant to anticipating or managing these, remain poorly documented or understood. During the first two years after diagnosis, most patients will receive thorough follow-up care. However, the frequency and intensity of monitoring diminishes with a dramatic fall-off two to five years post-treatment. Conversely, the risk of late effects and the impact of long-term effects increase with the passage of time for survivors exposed to chemo-, radio- or long-term hormonal therapies. Not all survivors may be aware of the late effects for which they may be at risk. This study aims to enroll 1,600 cancer survivors in order to improve knowledge about the frequency, content and setting of follow-up care received by the broader population of cancer survivors. This research may lead to revised standards for such care with a view towards preventing, detecting early, or ameliorating long-term or late effects of cancer and its treatment.
NCCC Principal Investigator: Ingrid Oakley-Girvan, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Collaborators: Ann Hamilton, Ph.D., USC; Noreen Aziz, Ph.D., M.D., M.P.H., National Cancer Institute
Funding Source: NCI: SEER Rapid Response Surveillance Study
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