Cancer care and cancer survivorship care in the United States: will we be able to care for these patients in the future?

Abstract

The combination of a shortfall in oncologists and primary care physicians and an increased number of patients using more health care resources raises concerns about our health care system's ability to accommodate future patients with cancer and cancer survivors.

Figure 1.

Number of patients with newly diagnosed cancer and cancer deaths in the United States between 1998 and 2007. Data adapted with permission.,

Figure 2.

Physician and infusion room visits per patient per year during the first year of therapy from 2001 to 2007. Data adapted with permission from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Figure 3.

Cumulative number of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -approved oncology drugs by year and route of administration. Data adapted from www.fda.gov. PO, oral.

Figure 4.

(A) Changes in numbers of patients seen at an academic cancer center from fiscal year (FY) 2001 to FY 2007. (B) Number of patients seen in the breast cancer program from FY 2001 to FY 2007. New patients are those seen for the first time in the year listed; continuing patients are those seen in previous years, who return for care in the year listed; and total unique patients represent the sum of new patients and those continuing their care. Data adapted with permission from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Figure 5.

Projected supply of and demand for oncologists between 2005 and 2020. Data adapted with permission.

Figure 6.

Proportions of third-year internal medical residents choosing careers as generalists, subspecialists, and hospitalists. Data adapted with permission.