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Paediatrics

Addressing the health burden of childhood cancer survivors — improvements are needed

Recently published data from a large-cohort study confirm the substantial burden of chronic health conditions among childhood cancer survivors, and describe the multiple chronic conditions faced by these individuals. The findings emphasize the need for specialized care in this unique patient population that, as discussed herein, often goes unmet. More must be done to ease the burden on cancer survivors; new models of care are required to improve their long-term health.

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Figure 1: Discrepancies in the need for and receipt of specialized health care among childhood cancer survivors.

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Correspondence to Tara O. Henderson.

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Henderson, T., Oeffinger, K. Addressing the health burden of childhood cancer survivors — improvements are needed. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 15, 137–138 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2017.187

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