Consequences of Cancer Treatment
The Challenge
60% of cancer survivors have unmet physical or psychological needs following treatment, with 34% of people having 5 or more unmet needs.
We define the consequences of cancer or its treatment as,
“Symptoms and/or changes in function which develop following apparently successful treatment for cancer”.
For example:
- 50% of patients who have had pelvic radiotherapy as part of their treatment report bowel problems affecting their quality of life
- Over one third of people report problems with close relationships, an inability to pursue their chosen career, or difficulty carrying out daily household duties.
- Other consequences of treatment include lymphoedema, fatigue, osteoporosis and heart problems.
The exact scale of the problem is not yet fully understood as data about consequences of treatment is not being routinely collected and there are difficulties in health professionals associating the symptoms with a past cancer diagnosis. For this reason, the creation of specialist services to deal with the more complex and severe problems has been inadequate.
The Programme of Work
Many of the projects are currently focusing on the physical, psychological and social consequences of treatment for people with cancers of the pelvic area. The learning gained through these projects will influence approaches to dealing with consequences of treatment for other tumour areas.
The consequences of treatment project group have identified three areas of work to improve services for people with consequences of treatment:
1 – Improving Education and Awareness of Consequences of Treatment
2 – Improving and Applying our Knowledge about the Consequences of Treatment
3 – Developing Services for Cancer Survivors with Consequences of Cancer or its Treatment
This project is sponsored by Jane Maher, Chief Medical Officer, Macmillan & National Clinical Lead, NHS Improvement, and managed by Chris Steele, Macmillan Cancer Support.
A recent article published in GP Newspaper explores the late effects survivors are facing as cancer treatments improve. This is available to download below and original article can be seen on the Healthcare Republic website.
Last updated on August 25, 2011