ESTABLISHING COMPREHENSIVE SPECIALTY FOLLOW-UP CLINICS FOR LONG-TERM SURVIVORS OF CANCER - PROVIDING SYSTEMATIC PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT

Late effects of multi-modality treatments may result in organ compromi se or new primary cancers for a growing population of long-term surviv ors of cancer. It is estimated that there will be 180000-220000 childh ood cancer survivors living in the United States in the year 2000. Thi s number of survivors warrants program planning specific to their need s. Add to this the number of patients diagnosed with cancer as adults who have reached 5-year survival status, and the total population of l ong-term survivors of cancer justifies special programs to deal with t he issues of survivorship. This paper addresses several questions: (a) What are the needs of cancer survivors? (b) Can these needs be met th rough specialty survivor clinics? (c) What are the benefits of survivo r follow-up clinics? (d) Should survivor clinics for children and adul ts become standard care? The clinic structure and objectives, and dail y procedures for a follow-up clinic in New York State are presented as one model of care. Benefits for a free-standing clinic also are discu ssed as well as financial considerations and directions for research.