Study reveals "challenges" after cancer treatment – PNN



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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 published its 2006 Key Report on Cancer Survivors, which encouraged patients to take an interest in patient care. Malignant tumors, surgeries, treatments and radiation last a lifetime.

In a report published by the National Cancer Institute, researchers said that many of the recommendations of the 2006 report had not been fully implemented, despite the progress made.

"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 surgeries and stress", said Dr. Ron Klein, senior scientist at the Baltimore Medicare and Medicaid Development Center. What does not know if the cancer will come back and the physical burden that comes with it, because of the treatment, which sometimes lasts long periods, perhaps indefinitely. "

"By recognizing these challenges, leaders in the field are developing and testing new models for victim care and demanding quality for the care they receive," he added.

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 obtain a post-survival health plan to assist with periodic examinations and treatment once the tumor is over, but it is not clear to what extent these plans are actually being used or are being used. they improved the results.

Part of the problem, according to the new report, is that there are no clear criteria for assessing or improving the quality of health care provided to victims, as most quality measures are focused on oncology rather than helping victims adjust later to their lives.

The new report adds that physicians are not very committed to training health service providers to the recommendations of the Academy regarding survivor care, despite the development of professional and voluntary institutions to develop health care providers. training programs in this regard.

Source: agencies

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