Easing the transition for cancer patients (ASCO annual meeting)

Oncologists envision a "survivorship care plan" to help posttreatment cancer patients have a softer landing in the primary care setting by enabling the handoff of key information.

By Amy Snow Landa, AMNews correspondent. July 17, 2006.

Reports from conferences important to physicians

Cancer survivors soon might start handing their primary care physicians a new kind of document -- one that briefly summarizes their diagnosis, the treatment they received and their follow-up care needs.

Called a "survivorship care plan," the paperwork is intended to help smooth patients' transition from active treatment with a cancer specialist to ongoing care with a primary care doctor. The goal is to better inform cancer survivors and their primary care physicians about the patient's circumstances, said oncologists at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology last month in Atlanta.

Currently, there is no real system for conveying that information when oncologists hand off their patients, said Patricia A. Ganz, MD, PhD, director for cancer prevention and control research at Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Some oncologists write treatment summary notes for their patients that also outline follow-up care requirements, but others don't, Dr. Ganz said. "It's haphazard."

Unfortunately, that means many cancer survivors are left in the dark about posttreatment medical needs, said the Institute of Medicine's 2005 report on adult cancer survivors, "From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition."

The document found that many survivors are uncertain about how often they should see a doctor, the risks they face, what tests and monitoring should be performed, and how they can make healthy lifestyle changes that might reduce the risk of recurrence and promote wellness.