Cancer Survivorship Symposium

Given the continued advances in strategies to detect cancer early and to treat it successfully, the number of people living years beyond a cancer diagnosis will continue to increase.¹ Regardless of the disease state, however, survivors may experience lasting adverse effects of treatment.²

To better understand and address these challenges, an invitational symposium took place July 15–17, 2005, in Philadelphia. The title of this consensus-building symposium was "The State of the Science on Nursing Approaches to Managing Late and Long-Term Sequelae of Cancer and Cancer Treatment." The goals of the symposium were to develop research priorities and recommendations for clinical care, education, and policy related to nursing care for cancer survivors who complete initial treatment during adulthood and continue to live with the potential or actual sequelae of their cancer, its treatment, or both. The project was led by Carol Curtiss and Pamela J. Haylock, former presidents of the Oncology Nursing Society and acknowledged cancer nursing experts.

The symposium convened 50 participants from around the United States and Canada, including nurses in clinical practice, research, and education, and representatives from major cancer centers and government agencies such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the U.S. Public Health Service, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also in attendance were cancer survivors, social workers, journalists, and pharmaceutical industry representatives, all of whom came together to address the issues faced by long-term cancer survivors.

Note: The symposium was supported in part from an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ grant 1 R13 HS16072-01) grant and unrestricted grants from the American Cancer Society, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Sanofi-Aventis, Amgen, Novartis, Endo Pharmaceuticals, MGI Pharma, and Ortho Biotec.

CDC's Participation

Two of the invited participants were from CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control:

• Linda Alley, PhD, RN, Epidemiologist and Oncology Nurse, offered an idea to explore using existing population-based cancer surveillance data systems, such as CDC's National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER), as models to help develop the critically needed infrastructure for a comprehensive survivorship database. A pilot study to explore the feasibility and costs associated with identifying and characterizing survivors' problems and needs within the framework of a dedicated survivorship database would be an initial step in addressing one of the symposium's recurring themes: the current deficit in population-based data on survivorship issues.



• PerStephanie Thompson, BA, Public Health Analyst, led a communication and dissemination discussion regarding building strong partnerships for public health survivorship initiatives and developing a dissemination strategy to inform academia, health care professionals, policy makers, survivors, and the general public about the symposium's findings.

The concept of using existing national surveillance system infrastructures as guides to create a comprehensive database that provides a broader picture of cancer survivorship is supported by the National Action Plan for Cancer Survivorship, authored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and other partners. A project that develops such a database will help the public health community better understand the range of health issues that cancer survivors face, and any differences between survivor groups based on demographics and medical variables.

Symposium Content and Expected Outcomes

Building on the growing number of recent reports that have identified needs and gaps in cancer survivorship research, the project aimed to contribute to and extend this discussion.

Experts in a variety of survivorship topics presented a review of current research on the various long-term and late-appearing adverse effects with which survivors may have to contend. Symposium participants then participated in small-group discussions, a roundtable discussion, and plenary sessions to reach consensus on research gaps and a research agenda, barriers to care, action strategies, and recommendations.

The full report on the results of the consensus building during and after the symposium was published as a supplement to the American Journal of Nursing: Volume 106, No. 3 Supplement, March 2006.

An executive summary of the report is available at www.nursingcenter.com/library/static.asp?pageid=623591.

Participants

Visit Symposium Participants for a complete list of participants.

Hosts

• American Cancer Society
• American Journal of Nursing (www.ajnonline.com or www.nursingcenter.com)
• National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship
• University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing*

References

1. Aziz NM, Rowland JH. Trends and advances in cancer survivorship research: challenge and opportunity. Seminars in Radiation Oncology 2003;13(3):248–266.



2. Yabroff KR, Lawrence WF, Clauser S, Davis WW, Brown ML. Burden of illness in cancer survivors: findings from a population-based national sample. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2004;96(17):1322–1330.

*Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.