Maria MD

The number of patients surviving cancer for 5 years or longer has continuously increased because of innovations in cancer diagnosis and therapeutics. Dr. Alma Rodriguez, Vice President for Medical Affairs at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, has spearheaded the development of an integrated program for the health of cancer survivors, The Cancer Survivorship Program. Dr. Rodriguez's lecture, "Models for Multidisciplinary Cancer Survivorship Care," defines cancer survivorship and introduces models of multidisciplinary survivorship care. Dr. Rodriguez begins with a historical perspective and provides insight into the common characteristics and unique needs of cancer survivors that vary by disease site and treatment. Dr. Rodriguez describes the long-term components and consequences of cancer care, and she defines the phases of survivorship and presents the medical and psychosocial aspects of each stage. Dr. Rodriguez discusses principles of the delivery of multidisciplinary care and introduces practice models that include standardization of practice tools, health team partnerships, and multidisciplinary planning clinics. Dr. Rodriguez's presentation emphasizes the need for an integrated approach to cancer survivor care that includes surveillance and screening, risk reduction and cancer prevention, management of late effects and side effects, and quality of life. She concludes her presentation by discussing MD Anderson's experience in establishing its Survivorship Program, establishing its pilot survivorship clinics, and developing cancer survivorship resources for health care professionals and patients.