The symposium, themed “Cancer Survivorship Research and Health Disparities,” was hosted by the GW Cancer Institute (GWCI) Center for the Advancement of Cancer Survivorship, Navigation, and Policy (caSNP) and the EagleBank Foundation. Bringing together survivors, researchers, clinicians, caregivers, and community health workers, the symposium sought to improve outcomes of cancer survivorship, which is the period of time following a cancer diagnosis.

 

“Some of the same barriers that interfere with a person’s ability to access screenings and quality care also interfere with their ability to access survivorship care,” said Steve Patierno, Ph.D., executive director, GWCI. “Through this symposium, I hope that we can integrate the work that we do in the community with the growing and exciting world of cancer survivorship and eventually eliminate cancer disparities.”

 

After an inspiring welcome from cancer survivor Laurel Wassner, who is a GW alumna and professional triathlete, Julia Rowland, Ph.D., director of the National Cancer Institute’s Office of Cancer Survivorship set the stage for the day’s discussions by outlining the current state of survivorship research and health disparities. “The field of cancer survivorship is not a new field; not even a baby field. It is a field right in the middle of its adolescence,” she said. “But, as with any good adolescence, we must look back and ask, ‘where did we come from, where do we need to go, how are we going to define ourselves differently—and particularly, how do we measure our success?”

 

Both Rowland and Craig Earle, M.D., director of the Health Services Research Program for cancer care Ontario and the Ontario institute for Cancer Research, reminded the audience that “being cancer free does not mean being free of cancer” and drew upon current research revealing that this population’s current needs—as varied as they are—are not being met.  “We must recognize cancer survivorship as a distinct phase of cancer care, complete with its own unique set of cross-cutting issues,” said Dr. Earle, who suggested that cancer can be used as a “teachable moment,” or a time when people are more receptive to making healthy changes to their lifestyles.

 

Other speakers included Kimlin Ashing-Giwa, Ph.D., director of the City of Hope Center of Community Alliance for Research and Education and Lisa Campbell, Ph.D., associate director of the Center for Health Disparities Research at East Carolina University. Dr. Ashing-Giwa highlighted some of her own research showing that socio-ecological and cultural factors may be heavily proximal to health related quality of life, particularly among ethnic minority populations. Dr. Campbell proved this case by focusing on the disparate treatment and outcomes of African American prostate cancer survivors.

 

The day’s presentations culminated with a Town Hall moderated by Lydia Buki, Ph.D., associate professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that asked, “How can researchers and clinicians promote optimal wellness for all cancer survivors and reduce disparities in health outcomes?” Despite their diverse backgrounds, all participants agreed that cancer survivors would benefit greatly from improved communication and collaboration between doctors and patients, between doctors themselves, and between clinicians and community workers.

 

Serving as a model for survivorship care, a panel of Lance Armstrong Foundation Survivorship Centers of Excellence offered their successes, mistakes, and suggestions to other cancer centers. The panelists, who included moderator Caroline Huffman, director of navigation services of the LIVESTRONG Survivorship Center of Excellence Network; K. Scott Baker, M.D., M.S. and Karen L. Syrjala, Ph.D. of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; and Linda Jacobs, Ph.D., C.R.N.P., A.O.C.N., B.C., of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, emphasized the need to involve primary care and mid-level practitioners, to individualize care plans, and—most importantly—to educate, empower, and listen to the survivors themselves. “We learned early on that we have to focus on what the survivors want, rather than what we think we can offer them,” said Dr. Jacobs.

 

Voicing with poignant strength the wants of survivors was speaker Reverend Renee Cole, a cancer “conqueror,” activist, and advocate.  “Cancer is not a trip, it’s a journey that affects your finances, your emotions, your career, your life, and everyone that you love,” she said. “We have come a long way [in the field of cancer survivorship,] but there’s even more that we can do to not only give us quality of life, but also quantity of life.”