New NCCN guidelines for survivorship care

Abstract

Survivorship is a stage in the cancer journey like diagnosis and treatment, but it tends to be somewhat neglected in the quiet afterthoughts of treatment completion. Although cancer recurrence, second cancers, and late side effects of treatment are major concerns for survivors, survivors also may experience a variety of long-term physical and psychological sequelae of a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Oncology professionals may be ill-prepared to tackle these topics, and they have few guidelines for meeting these patient needs. In this article, Dr. Jennifer A. Ligibel and Dr. Crystal S. Denlinger present highlights from the inaugural NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology on survivorship care, focusing on the subtopics of exercise, cognitive function, immunization, and sexual function. They also discuss implementing new recommendations on survivorship assessment in the clinic.