Policies and Practices to Address Cancer's Long-Term Adverse Consequences

Abstract

As cancer detection and treatment improve, the number of long-term survivors will continue to grow, as will the need to improve their survivorship experience and health outcomes. We need to better understand cancer and its treatment's short- and long-term adverse consequences and to prevent, detect, and treat these consequences effectively. Delivering care through a collaborative care model; standardizing information offered to and collected from patients; standardizing approaches to documenting, treating, and reducing adverse effects; and creating a data infrastructure to make population-based information widely available are all actions that can improve survivors' outcomes. National policies that address gaps in insurance coverage, the cost and value of treatment and survivorship care, and worker benefits such as paid sick leave can also concurrently reduce cancer burden. The National Cancer Policy Forum and the Forum on Aging, Disability, and Independence at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine sponsored a virtual workshop on "Addressing the Adverse Consequences of Cancer Treatment," November 9-10, 2020, to examine long-term adverse consequences of cancer treatment and to identify practices and policies to reduce treatment's negative impact on survivors. This commentary discusses high-priority issues raised during the workshop and offers a path forward.