Abstract

GODOY-CASASBUENAS, Natalia; RAMIREZ, Óscar  and  VRIES, Esther de. Beyond the cure: the need to implement a long-term follow-up system for childhood cancer survivors in Colombia. rev.colomb.cancerol. [online]. 2022, vol.26, n.1, pp.22-30.  Epub Sep 03, 2022. ISSN 0123-9015.  https://doi.org/10.35509/01239015.750.

With the advent of high-quality multidisciplinary treatments, the overall 5-year cancer survival in the pediatric population has improved considerably, reaching up to 80% in high-income countries. In Colombia, there has also been a progressive increase in overall 5-year survival, particularly for hematologic malignancies. Consequently, the number of childhood cancer survivors has increased significantly in recent years and, together with them, the occurrence of late adverse events related to increased morbidity and risk of premature death in adulthood. Although follow-up strategies have been implemented for childhood cancer survivors in high-income countries, few efforts have been made in Colombia to implement these strategies. In fact, the common practice in most treatment centers is to discharge children who have had 5 years of cancer follow-up, without precise instructions for long-term follow-up. This paper aims to argue about the need to design and implement follow-up strategies for survivors of childhood cancer in the Colombian context.

Keywords : Childhood cancer survivors; late effects; long-term follow-up; survival.

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