Advanced cancer: emergence of a new survivor population

Abstract

Objectives: To summarize the scientific and technologic advances contributing to the increasing number of people who are living with advanced cancer, associated economic costs, psychosocial burdens, and public policy.

Data sources: Published books and journal articles, web resources, newspapers and news magazines.

Conclusion: Scientific and technologic advances, combined with unidentified inherent traits, allow some people with advanced cancer to live for varying and increasingly long periods of time. Public policy, provisions for care, and service delivery lag behind the science, thereby excluding this emerging population from the attention now being paid to survivors with potentially curable cancer.

Implications for nursing practice: Nurses in clinical practice settings must be attuned to the unique needs associated with living with advanced cancer. Nurses in all settings must advocate for and participate in nursing research efforts to identify needs, gaps and shortcomings in care delivery, and development of interventions, services, programs, and resources to address the needs of this growing population. Finally, awareness that this population has unique needs and burdens prepares nurses to lead and/or participate in efforts to craft public policy that promotes optimal health and well-being among people living with advanced cancer.