If you are interested this report, chances are you are among the 15.5 million people in the United
States who currently consider themselves cancer survivors. Or you are the spouse, child, parent,
or concerned friend of someone who is a cancer survivor.
“Survivor” is a powerful word. As defined by some medical groups, it refers to anyone who has
ever been diagnosed with cancer, from the earliest stages of treatment through the final days of
hospice care—and applies to their loved ones and caregivers as well. Others define it more narrowly, as we do in this report. It means that you have survived the first active phase of treatmentand have been able to resume your life. Perhaps treatment has slowed or stopped your cancergrowth, and you need only monitoring for the time being. Or perhaps you’ve reached a plateauthat you can maintain with long-term treatment. Or maybe you have conquered your disease andreceived a clean bill of health from your doctor. All of these meet the definition.
No matter where you are in your cancer journey, you have undoubtedly faced some of the most
difficult challenges you’ve ever experienced. You’ve had to come to terms with the frightening
reality of your own mortality. You’ve undergone treatments that took a great toll on your emotional
and physical well-being. And you likely had to step away—at least temporarily—from
your day-to-day life to deal with this imminent threat.
Now that you are a survivor, your challenges have shifted, but they have not disappeared. As
you enter this next phase of your journey, you will encounter more obstacles ahead. The same
treatments that likely saved your life might have left residual effects that could threaten your
health again one day. Your cancer may have left physical—and emotional—scars that have yet
to heal. And your experience as a cancer patient may have put strain on your relationships that
will require time and effort to fix.
This Special Health Report is designed to guide you through the next stage of your cancer
journey. It will walk you through many of the issues you’ll face in the upcoming months and
years—the long-term and late effects of your cancer and treatment; the potential for a recurrence
or new cancer; the emotional, occupational, and financial issues you’ll potentially face; and the implications for your family and friends. You’ll learn how to readjust to the life you may have put on
hold during your treatment, transitioning back to your full work and home life. And you’ll learn
ways to maintain your health to prevent new problems, including cancer, from taking hold again.
Prepared by the editors of Harvard Health Publishing in consultation with Ann Partridge, MD, MPH Director, Adult Survivorship Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. 49 pages. (2017)