Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan for Michigan, 2009-2015 Goals (2009 - 2015): Cancer Survivorship
Goal: Improve the quality of life for cancer survivors in Michigan.
Definitions Cancer survivors are individuals who have been diagnosed with cancer. They also include the people who are affected by an individual’s diagnosis, such as family members, friends, and caregivers.1
Survivorship covers the physical, psychosocial, and economic issues of cancer, from diagnosis until the end of life. It focuses on the health and life of a person with cancer beyond the diagnosis and treatment phases. Survivorship includes issues related to the ability to get health care and follow-up treatment, as well as the late effects of treatment, second cancers, and quality of life issues. Family members, friends, and caregivers are also part of the survivorship experience.2
Survivorship care, as defined in the Institute of Medicine report,3 is a distinct phase of care for cancer survivors that includes four components:
prevention and detection of new cancers and recurrent cancer;
surveillance for cancer spread, recurrence, or second cancers;
intervention for consequences of cancer and its treatment; and
coordination between specialists and primary care providers to ensure that all of the survivor’s health needs are met.
Quality of life is the overall enjoyment of life. Many clinical trials assess the effects of cancer and its treatment on the quality of life. These studies measure aspects of an individual’s sense of well-being, and ability to carry out various activities.3
Data The National Cancer Institute estimates there were 11.7 million cancer survivors in the United States in 20074 — a 5 percent increase from the previous estimate of 11.1 million in 2005. The number of cancer survivors has quadrupled over the last three decades.
According to the Michigan Cancer Registry, the five-year survival rate for all cancers was 60.1 percent in 1998 (60.4 percent in men, 59.8 percent in women). Thirty-eight percent of cancer survivors are of working age (ages 20-64).5
Through 2007, the breakdown of cancer survivors in Michigan5 includes the following:
All cancer sites = 650,000 survivors
Breast cancer = 117,000 survivors
Cervical cancer (invasive only) = 8,000 survivors
Childhood cancers (ages 0-14) = 5,600 survivors
Colorectal cancer = 78,000 survivors
Lung cancer = 39,000 survivors
Prostate cancer = 144,000 survivors
Cancer Survivorship Health Disparities Data
African Americans have the highest overall cancer mortality rates nationwide.6
African American women have lower survival rates for most cancers compared to whites due to later stage at detection and poorer-stage specific survival.4
Persons with low socioeconomic status tend to have poorer cancer survival rates.7
In Michigan, African Americans have lower five-year cancer survival rates (men = 57 percent; women = 50 percent) than the general population (men = 60.4 percent; women = 59.8 percent).5
More than 60 percent of cancer survivors are aged 65 or older.4
5 Michigan Cancer Surveillance Program, 2007 Michigan Cancer Death Public Use File & 2005 Michigan Cancer Incidence Public Use File. Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) Division for Vital Records & Health Statistics.
6 American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures for African Americans 2009-2010.
7 Singh GK, Miller BA, Hankey BF, Edwards BK. Area Socioeconomic Variations in U.S. Cancer Incidence, Mortality, Stage, Treatment, and Survival, 1975-1999. NCI Cancer Surveillance Monograph Series, Number 4. (Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute, 2003. NIH Publication No. 03-5417.)
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