Cancer as a new chronic disease: Oncology nursing in the 21st Century

Abstract

Approximately half of all North Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point of their lifetimes (Brenner et al., 2020). With improved screening, detection and treatments, the number of survivors is growing exponentially and anticipated to reach ~18 million individuals in the United States by 2022 (Henley et al., 2020). Based on 2014 data, 63% of Canadians diagnosed with cancer are expected to survive for five or more years, compared to 55% in the early 1990s and 25% in the 1940s (Brenner et al., 2020). Typically, a cancer survivor is considered an individual who has completed curative-intent therapy, with ongoing care focusing on surveillance, prevention of adverse treatment-related effects and maintenance treatments such as endocrine therapy (Medicine & Council, 2006). However, in the last decade an entirely new survivor population is now emerging, that of people living with incurable cancer and living for years while receiving chronic treatments.