Holistic Needs Assessment of Cancer Survivors—Supporting the Process Through Digital Monitoring of Circadian Physiology

Abstract

The year 2022 could represent a significant juncture in the incorporation of mHealth solutions in routine cancer care. With the recent global COVID-19 pandemic leading a surge in both observation- and intervention-based studies predominantly aimed at remote monitoring there has been huge intellectual investment in developing platforms able to provide real time analytics that are readily usable. Another fallout from the pandemic has seen record waiting times and delayed access to cancer therapies leading to exhausting pressures on global healthcare providers. It seems an opportune time to utilize this boom in platforms to offer more efficient “at home” clinical assessments and less “in department” time for patients. Here, we will focus specifically on the role of digital tools around cancer survivorship, a relevant aspect of the cancer journey, particularly benefiting from integrative approaches. Within that context a further concept will be introduced and that is of the likely upsurge in circadian-based interpretation of continuous monitoring and the engendered therapeutic modifications. Chronobiology across the 24-hour span has long been understood to control key bodily aspects and circadian dysregulation plays a significant role in the risk of cancer and also the response to therapy and therefore progressive outcome. The rapid improvement in minimally invasive monitoring devices is, in the opinion of the authors, likely to advance introducing chronobiological amendments to routine clinical practices with positive impact on cancer survivors.