With nearly 15.5 million cancer survivors in the United States, gains in survival have created a need for high-quality posttreatment care. Cancer survivors suffer from late and long-term effects of their disease and its treatment, and the health care system must be able to care for these issues in a way that addresses patients’ preferences for care and their priorities for long-term outcomes. Survivorship care, which encompasses the follow-up care, services, resources and monitoring that cancer survivors receive after treatment has ended, is an important aspect of the cancer care trajectory that can improve patients’ health outcomes and quality of life (QOL) over the long term. It focuses on the health and life of a cancer patient posttreatment and addresses physical, psychosocial and economic issues, including the lasting effects from treatment, patient’s self-efficacy and ability to manage their care posttreatment, and issues related to insurance and financial challenges resulting from care.
