MASCC 2016 | Treating ex-patients: beyond the 5-year follow-up

Giovanni Rosti, MD of Ospedale Generale, Treviso, Italy discusses a study focused on ex-patients after the standard 5-year follow-up period is finished. Dr Rosti creates an ambulatory, a place where people who had cancer can visit, get a medical check-up and lifestyle instructions. This initiative leads to identification of unmet needs, as patients find it difficult to cope with social and sexual issues. First step for clinicians to understand patients’ issues is to collect the information. Then the information can be shared with specialists in a given category, e.g. psychology or gynaecology. Dr Rosti mentions that supportive care is not only for patients facing end of life, but for all patients and survivors, and should start at the same time as the main treatment. Recorded at the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) and International Society of Ocular Oncology (ISOO) 2016 Annual Meeting on Supportive Care in Cancer held in Adelaide, Australia.