American Cancer Society prostate cancer survivorship care guidelines

TLDR

Prostate cancer survivors number 2.8 million in the United States—about one in five cancer survivors—and while treatment and recurrence surveillance guidelines exist, there is a lack of post‑treatment follow‑up guidance to address long‑term and late effects. The American Cancer Society created clinical follow‑up care guidelines to help primary‑care clinicians provide comprehensive post‑treatment care for prostate cancer survivors. The guidelines were produced through evidence synthesis and expert consensus, drawing on existing health‑promotion, surveillance, and second‑primary‑cancer guidelines and on limited small‑sample, retrospective studies. Published in CA Cancer J Clin 2014;64:225–249 (© 2014 American Cancer Society).

Abstract

Abstract Answer questions and earn CME/CNE Prostate cancer survivors approach 2.8 million in number and represent 1 in 5 of all cancer survivors in the United States. While guidelines exist for timely treatment and surveillance for recurrent disease, there is limited availability of guidelines that facilitate the provision of posttreatment clinical follow‐up care to address the myriad of long‐term and late effects that survivors may face. Based on recommendations set forth by a National Cancer Survivorship Resource Center expert panel, the American Cancer Society developed clinical follow‐up care guidelines to facilitate the provision of posttreatment care by primary care clinicians. These guidelines were developed using a combined approach of evidence synthesis and expert consensus. Existing guidelines for health promotion, surveillance, and screening for second primary cancers were referenced when available. To promote comprehensive follow‐up care and optimal health and quality of life for the posttreatment survivor, the guidelines address health promotion, surveillance for prostate cancer recurrence, screening for second primary cancers, long‐term and late effects assessment and management, psychosocial issues, and care coordination among the oncology team, primary care clinicians, and nononcology specialists. A key challenge to the development of these guidelines was the limited availability of published evidence for management of prostate cancer survivors after treatment. Much of the evidence relies on studies with small sample sizes and retrospective analyses of facility‐specific and population databases. CA Cancer J Clin 2014;64:225–249. © 2014 American Cancer Society .