We’re pleased to announce that the PanCareFollowUp recommendations have now been published!
European PanCareFollowUp Recommendations for surveillance of late effects of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer was published in the European Journal of Cancer (154: Aug 2021; 316 – 328). The paper describes how the PanCareFollowUp recommendations for surveillance of late effects of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer were developed.
Why is this paper important?
More and more children are surviving cancer as medical treatments improve, which is great news! However, many survivors will face late effects of their cancer treatments during their lifetime, so they need different health care than their peers. In order for healthcare professionals (HCPs) to provide the best possible long-term follow-up care, evidence-based guidelines are needed. The International Late Effects of Childhood Cancer Guideline Harmonization Group (IGHG) prepares such guidelines, but they are not available yet for all late effects. This paper describes how the EU-funded PanCareFollowUp project developed 25 additional harmonised, European recommendations to help HCPs deliver care until guidelines are available.
What did we do?
A working group of 23 late effects specialists, researchers, and survivor representatives from nine countries, collaborated to develop the 25 harmonised, European recommendations using a pragmatic methodology. The working group met face-to-face twice and conducted an external consultation round involving 18 experts from 14 countries. The recommendations developed describe the follow-up care needed while balancing the different requirements of health care systems across Europe.
What is the impact?
The recommendations developed in the PanCareFollowUp project will be used along with IGHG guidelines in the PanCareFollowUp Care intervention study, which will include 800 survivors from Belgium, Czech Republic, Italy and Sweden. The recommendations will also be widely promoted through the PanCare network and our stakeholder partners Childhood Cancer International Europe and SIOP Europe for use in clinics across Europe. Our aim is that the PanCareFollowUp project will improve the health and quality of life of every survivor across Europe by providing evidence-based recommendations for long-term follow-up care.