From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition: An American Society of Clinical Oncology and Institute of Medicine Symposium (2006)

—ASCO, partnering with government and nonprofit groups, working to implement findings of new Institute of Medicine cancer survivorship report—

Washington, D.C. – The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is co-sponsoring a symposium on November 8 that will chart a course for care for cancer survivors and fill gaps that have existed in patients’ long-term care.

The day-long “Symposium on Cancer Survivorship,” co-hosted by ASCO and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), with support from the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS), will focus on implementing the 10 recommendations from the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) new survivorship report, From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition, being released at a press conference today. The symposium will highlight strategies for implementing a central recommendation from the IOM report: the “Cancer Survivorship Care Plan.”

The Cancer Survivorship Care Plan is a tool that would summarize critical information needed for the survivor’s long-term care. The Plan would be

written by the physician that coordinated the patient’s treatment and would provide specific information on the timing and content of follow-up care, recommendations for prevention practices, and information about available psychosocial services, employment counseling, and access to health insurance.

“The transition from active treatment to survivorship care is critical to the long-term health and well being of people with cancer,” said Sandra J. Horning, MD, ASCO President and Co-Chair of ASCO’s Survivorship Task Force. “With more than 10 million cancer survivors living in the United States today, it is time to focus on all of the issues affecting these patients, both medical and psychosocial, so we can ensure they are getting the specialized attention they need.”

“One of the most important recommendations from the report is the need to develop a ‘Cancer Survivorship Care Plan’ for all survivors after their term of active treatment ends,” said Patricia A. Ganz, MD, co-chair of ASCO’s Survivorship Task Force and a member of the IOM committee that wrote the report. “Such a plan would allow oncology professionals and patients to work together to develop an individual care plan that summarizes the disease and treatment information patients need ensure high-quality, long-term medical care.”

Other discussions at the symposium will address building bridges between oncology and primary care providers; developing and testing models of survivorship care; guideline development and quality improvement; professional education and training; making better use of psychosocial and community support services and addressing employment and insurance issues; and clinical and health services research issues.

“Patient care does not end when the cancer treatment ends,” said NCCS President and two-time cancer survivor Ellen Stovall, who also is co-chair of the IOM committee that drafted the report. “Together, we can work to implement actively these recommendations from IOM, and to break down the barriers to ensuring quality, long-term care for cancer survivors.”

More than 100 stakeholders in the cancer community, including survivors, advocates, healthcare providers, government officials, insurers and payers, and researchers, will participate in the symposium discussion.

ASCO Survivorship Activities Related to IOM Recommendations

In addition to co-hosting the symposium, ASCO is undertaking a range of other activities to move the IOM recommendations forward, some of which are highlighted below. These are conducted under the direction of ASCO’s Survivorship Task Force, formed in December 2004 and co-chaired by Drs. Horning and Ganz. These efforts include:

• Expert Panel: ASCO’s newly convened Survivorship Expert Panel is developing new evidence-based guidelines on the long-term medical care of adult cancer survivors. The overall purpose of the guideline is to provide health professionals with the knowledge and expertise to

decrease morbidity and to improve quality of life for adult survivors of cancer. The Panel will draft guidelines in the following areas: cardiovascular disease; hormone replacement therapy; osteoporosis; sexual dysfunction; second malignancies; neurocognitive dysfunction; psychosocial disease.

• Cancer Quality Alliance: In response to IOM’s call for public/private partnerships to monitor and improve the care that survivors receive, ASCO and NCCS are co-chairing the new Cancer Quality Alliance, a forum for diverse stakeholders in the cancer community who will work to improve the quality of the cancer care delivery system. Through this partnership, ASCO, NCCS, and the other members will establish integrated treatment systems to ensure all people with cancer receive the best care possible.

• New Survivorship Track at ASCO Annual Meeting: ASCO also will provide educational opportunities to healthcare providers on survivorship through sessions in a new “Patient and Survivor Care” track at its Annual Meeting in June 2006. One session in this expanded track will focus on how to write a “Survivorship Prescription,” which will highlight the IOM recommendations for outlining a follow-up care plan. Topics addressed in other sessions will include developing cancer survivorship programs; minimizing long-term consequences of breast cancer therapy; nutrition issues for survivors, and survivorship issues in genitourinary malignancies, among other sessions.

The “Symposium on Cancer Survivorship” is being held Tuesday, November 8, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the National Academy of Sciences Building, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. reporters are invited to attend.

Reporters are also invited to attend a press briefing on Monday, November 7, at 9:30 a.m. in the Holman Lounge of the National Press Club, 529 14^th Street NW, Washington, DC, where IOM leaders will discuss the report.

The report is embargoed until 9:30 a.m. EST on November 7. Advanced copies of the IOM report are available to reporters only beginning at 9:00 a.m. EST on Thursday, November 3. Obtain copies of the report by contacting Christine Stencel at 202-334-2138 or by e-mail at news@nas.edu; or Erika Borodinsky at 202-955-6222 or by e-mail at eborodinsky@spectrumscience.com.

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The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is the world’s leading professional organization representing physicians of all oncology subspecialties who care for people with cancer. ASCO’s more than 20,000 members from the U.S. and abroad set the standard for patient care worldwide and lead the fight for more effective cancer treatments, increased funding for clinical and

translational research, and, ultimately, cures for the many different types of cancer that strike an estimated 10 million people worldwide each year. ASCO publishes the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), the preeminent, peer-reviewed, medical journal on clinical cancer research, and produces People Living With Cancer (www.PLWC.org), an award-winning website providing oncologist-vetted cancer information to help patients and families make informed healthcare decisions.

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