Cancer patient survivorship has become a significant topic within oncology for both adult and pediatric patients. Starting in 2005, the U.S. Institute of Medicine recommended the use of survivorship care plans to assist patients transitioning from active treatment to the post-treatment phase of their cancer care, a critical time for many patients. Since 2014 there has been a mandate within the U.S. for adult cancer patients treated with curative intent to receive survivorship care plans comprised of a treatment summary and a follow-up plan to facilitate a better understanding among patients of what to expect post-treatment. In addition to a general cancer patient survivorship care plan, specific care plans have been created by the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for breast, lung, prostate and colorectal cancers as well as lymphoma.
An adult neuro-oncology patient specific survivorship care plan has been collaboratively developed by a multidisciplinary and inter-professional committee with approval of the Society for Neuro-Oncology Guidelines Committee. It has been designed to be as inclusive as possible given the variable patient needs, diagnoses and treatments within neuro-oncology while maintaining brevity. This plan was developed to be used for all patients regardless of treatment intent or diagnosis ‘as written’ or as a template containing key information to be adapted by individual practices or institutions. The survivorship care plan is intended for clinical patient care purposes only.
The Neuro-Oncology Patient Survivorship Care Plan as a fillable PDF is available by clicking here.
The plan is also to be made available in print in the journal Neuro-Oncology Practice, within the review entitled “Survivorship Care Planning in Neuro-Oncology”.