The increase in the number of cancer survivors is a sign of progress, not without challenges

Doctors and scientists develop clinical guidelines for cancer survivors as more and more people live decades after diagnosis, but US report suggests that extra work is needed to improve the quality of medical care brought to survivors of the deadly disease.

More than a decade has passed since the US National Academy of Medicine released its key report on cancer survivors, which urged patients to focus on patient care in 2006.

The report advocated changing the way we think, rather than focusing on treating tumors. We insist that lifelong health problems are reduced by malignant tumors, surgical procedures, treatments and procedures. radiation.

Many of the recommendations in the 2006 report had not been fully implemented despite the progress made, researchers said in a report published by the National Cancer Institute. "One of the great successes is the awareness of the challenges post-treatment cancer survivors face, such as body toxicity or premature aging due to chemotherapy, the effects of surgical operations, and psychological stress." suffered, "said Dr. Ron Klein, MD, MD, MD, MD. Do not know if the cancer will come back and the physical burden because of the treatment, which sometimes lasts long periods perhaps indefinitely.

"Recognizing these challenges, field leaders are developing and testing new models for caring for survivors and asking for information on the quality of care received," he said by e-mail.

The Klein report states that the National Academy of Medicine's report allowed health care providers to improve service delivery to help patients and their families understand the importance of post-treatment phase.

For example, the report recommends that patients receive health plans after their survival to help with periodic checks and treatments after the completion of the tumor itself, but it is not clear to what extent these plans are actually used or not. if they have improved the results.

The new report, published by the researchers, suggests that part of the problem is due to the lack of clear criteria for assessing or improving the quality of health care provided to victims.

The new report adds that physicians are not very committed to training health service providers to the Academy's recommendations on survivor care, although professional and voluntary institutions have developed training programs. in this regard.