Patients With Cancer Live Longer, Healthier When They Start Survivorship Care Before Or During Treatment

Key TakeawaysCancer survivorship care started before or during treatment can help patients live longerPatients who got early care had a lower risk of cancer recurrence and higher odds of survivalSurvivorship care usually starts after treatment, researchers said.MONDAY, Oct. 26, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Starting survivorship care for patients with cancer before or during treatment can help them live longer and avoid cancer recurrence, a new study says.Survivorship care focuses on maintaining a healthy lifestyle, managing the side effects of cancer treatment and keeping an eye out for signs of cancer recurrence, researchers said in background notes.When started earlier in treatment, survivorship care cut risk of cancer recurrence by 38% among a group of patients with head and neck cancer, researchers reported Oct. 22 in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery.Patients who received early survivorship care were also half as likely to miss or stop radiation therapy aimed at killing off their cancer, researchers found. “I think a lot of times survivorship care is seen as just something that is nice to have but is not essential,” said senior researcher Marci Lee Nilsen, director of the UPMC Head & Neck Cancer Survivorship Clinic in Pittsburgh.“This study shows that if we just shift survivorship care a bit earlier, patients have better outcomes, better adherence to treatment,” she said in a news release. “And even when you control for treatment adherence, you see an association between earlier care and survival.”The American Cancer Society defines cancer survivorship as “the period of time after you are diagnosed with cancer when you are dealing with the physical, mental, emotional, social and financial challenges that can develop.”Care specifically related to cancer survivorship has become more common and can involve a multidisciplinary team featuring experts in physical therapy, nutrition, dental care, mental health, fertility and sexuality, and finances, according to the ACS.However, such care is usually started after a person has finished their cancer treatment, researchers said.“Survivorship care does vary across cancers, but generally, the standard is that all cancer survivors have access to survivorship resources after treatment,” Nilsen said. “This study challenges that paradigm. I questioned why we intervene after symptoms and side effects have developed, when we could intervene earlier and hopefully prevent or mitigate them.”To see if starting survivorship care early would make a difference, researchers analyzed data from 471 patients with head and neck cancer, of whom 148 received survivorship care that started either before or early in their course of radiation treatment.Early survivorship care helped convince patients to keep their radiation appointments, lowering the odds they would skip or stop treatment by 55%, the study found.Patients also were 39% more likely to survive at least three years without their cancer returning.These results are among the first to show a link between the timing of survivorship care and cancer survival, researchers said.“We have a growing population of cancer survivors who are being cured and living longer. But a cure is not the only endpoint for survivors,” Nilsen said. “They want to live the best life they can. Survivors will tell you how beneficial it has been for them having survivorship care support along that journey.”More informationThe American Cancer Society has more on cancer survivorship care.SOURCES: University of Pittsburgh, news release, Oct. 22, 2026; JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, Oct. 22, 2026 .What This Means For YouPeople undergoing cancer therapy can ask for survivorship care during treatment, as it can help them live longer and healthier..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Patients With Cancer Live Longer, Healthier When They Start Survivorship Care Before Or During Treatment

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