"The lengthy insurance retention of adolescent/young adult cancer survivors makes a vertically integrated medical care system an ideal population laboratory for adolescent/young adult cancer survivorship research," they wrote in a poster presented at ASCO 2012.
Patient, Advocate for Thyself
Dr. Sadak said that patients also have to be willing to step up to the plate and act as their own best advocates.
"At some point, we as the provider want to educate the patient ... to have some kind of responsibility for their own health care," he said. "The question is, at what age? It may not be 16, 17, or 18, especially in a population that’s been through a serious illness like childhood cancer. The bonds that these patients and their parents have created are very strong. We have to respect that, while still encouraging the survivor to take responsibility for his health."
Dr. Sadak’s study was funded by a Children’s Health Center Board grant. Dr. Suh’s study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Cooper’s study was supported by Kaiser Permanente. All authors reported having no relevant conflicts of interest.