Cancer Survivorship
Jonathan Friedberg, M.D., M.M.Sc.
Acting Director, James P. Wilmot Cancer Center
Chair of Hematology/Oncology
at the University of Rochester Medical Center
Making Life Better For Cancer Survivors
The population of cancer survivors in this country is very large – more than 12 million – and growing every day thanks to the significant advances toward treatments and cures. These survivors deserve to have the fullest, healthiest possible life after their cancer care. The Wilmot Cancer Center has long been concerned with life after cancer, and has a world-class research program in cancer survivorship. Now, thanks to a generous gift from Richard DiMarzo, we are able to launch a clinical program in survivorship, led by Drs. Louis Constine and Michelle Shayne, which will bring the world's best research on cancer survivorship into the hands of patients and primary care physicians.
The effects of cancer treatment can be far-reaching, and dependent upon many factors: the type and progression of disease, length of treatment, and the ever-evolving drugs and therapies used. Making health care decisions after cancer care can be incredibly complex, but our new effort will help individuals by providing them with a post-treatment road map for life after their care.
Our program will provide a needed resource for our region by providing patients who complete their cancer treatment with two concise, portable documents: the care plan and the treatment summary. Our ultimate goal is to provide this service to patients who were treated elsewhere, and to offer educational seminars for referring providers and primary care physicians to bolster their understanding of the needs of our population of cancer survivors. I am proud of this important initiative and how it truly represents "Medicine of the Highest Order." Join us as we help cancer survivors in our community, and throughout the region, have a better and healthier future.
