Summary: 

There are approximately 12 million cancer survivors alive in the United States today, and that number is expected to grow to more than 18 million by 2020 (Mariotto, Yabroff, Shao, Feuer, & Brown, 2011). As a result of innovative research, improved detection, access to care and treatment, and a focus on life after treatment, more people are surviving cancer than ever before. However, it has become clear that when primary treatment ends, the cancer journey does not (Institute of Medicine [IOM] and National Research Council [NRC] of the National Academies, 2006). After treatment, many cancer survivors experience physical, emotional, and practical concerns, but they do not always receive the help they need (Rechis, Reynolds, Beckjord, & Nutt, 2010). With the increase in survivors over the past decade, post-treatment survivorship care has emerged as a new and evolving area of clinical practice and research (Jacobs et al., 2009). A challenge for the cancer survivorship community is how to best design and deliver high-quality survivorship care. Currently, there is little or no consensus on what survivorship providers must include, should include, or should strive to include in their approach to care. As the cancer survivor population continues to grow, building consensus is critical to preparing the cancer community to effectively respond to the challenges encountered by cancer survivors in the post-treatment period.