Survivorship: The need to assess the effects of an altered life

摘要

Most Western countries devote sizeable resources to investigating the aetiolo-_gies of diseases-particularly cancer. Latest estimates are that more than 1 in 3 people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime (Sasieni et al, 2011), and 13% of all deaths worldwide are cancer-related (World Health Organization, 2009). However, more and more people-often referred to as 'survivors'-are living with and beyond their cancer. For example, there are an estimated 2 million people living with cancer in the UK, a figure rising by 3% a year (Davies, 2009), and 12 million in the USA who have survived their cancer (Wolfson, 2010).