Mandi Chapman, Thriving after Cancer: Helping Adult Survivors of Pediatric Cancer Attain the Best Quality of Life

Written By Anna Miller (mcmamm@gwumc.edu)

When survivors of pediatric cancer turn 18, they can find themselves in medical care limbo. While pediatric oncologists may be most familiar with the patient, adult specialists are better equipped to monitor the lingering effects of cancer and its treatment often faced by survivors. So, to whom do they turn?

For many years, Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) has answered this question with its Long Term Follow-Up Program. But this July, CNMC teamed up with the GW Cancer Institute, the GW Medical Faculty Associates (MFA), and the GW Center for Integrative Medicine to offer an alternative solution: the Thriving After Cancer Program (TAC), a series of clinics that offers comprehensive quality care to survivors of childhood cancer.

"As our survivors become adults, there is a need for quality care that can address their growing concerns at an appropriate location," said Katarina Steacy, R.N., M.S., F.N.P., C.P.O.N., solid tumor nurse practitioner at CNMC, who manages TAC's survivorship clinic. "It is thrilling to be a part of a program that will provide a comprehensive medical home for these survivors."

The survivorship clinics are held on Wednesday mornings in the MFA's Center for General Internal Medicine. During sessions, patients meet with a multi-disciplinary team of specialists including a pediatric oncologist, a medical internist, a nurse practitioner, a psychiatrist, a registered dietician, and a patient navigator. This team assesses and documents each participants' medical history and offers follow-up care recommendations.

"We hope patients will leave better educated about their previous treatments and better equipped to manage and prevent future health risks," said Mandi Chapman, director of GWCI's Office of Cancer Survivorship. "Overall, we want to help survivors attain the best quality of life."

The demand for programs like TAC — whose first year is supported by seed funding from the D.C. Cancer Consortium (DCCC) — is reflective of an encouraging trend in cancer survivorship over the past several decades. Cure rates are approaching 80 percent, and in some specific childhood cancers the rates may even exceed 90 percent. But along with survival comes the potential for long-term and late effects of cancer and its treatment such as infertility, heart problems, weak bones, or depression.

Although most survivors of pediatric cancer are healthy, "the sobering incidence of significant long term medical conditions has made it necessary for life-long follow up of individuals diagnosed with and treated for cancer as children," explained Gregory Reaman, M.D., professor of Pediatrics at GW's School of Medicine and Health Sciences, who initiated the TAC program. "TAC has been recognized as meeting a significant clinical need in the Washington metropolitan area for many years. We are delighted to finally make this dream a reality."

About The George Washington University Medical Center

The George Washington University Medical Center is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary academic health center that has consistently provided high-quality medical care in the Washington, DC metropolitan area since 1824. The Medical Center comprises the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, the 11th oldest medical school in the country; the School of Public Health and Health Services, the only such school in the nation’s capital; GW Hospital, jointly owned and operated by a partnership between The George Washington University and a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, Inc.; and the GW Medical Faculty Associates, an independent faculty practice plan. For more information on GWUMC, visit www.gwumc.edu