Cancer survivors often face a hidden battle long after their treatment ends, with many requiring care from up to 13 different specialists for ongoing health problems caused by their cancer therapy. This has prompted a leading Australian university to research better post-cure care.
The Challenge of Survivorship
Professor Raymond Chan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Flinders University, has dedicated his career to addressing these issues. With a background in cancer nursing, survivorship, and palliative care, his work focuses on improving health systems and professional responses to the needs of people affected by cancer after treatment.
Professor Chan’s journey began over 22 years ago as a nurse in Brisbane. “I started off caring for people with cancer on the ward,” he explains. “I noticed a lot of problems facing our cancer patients, or even people who had been treated for cancer. Whether they had achieved a full cure or not, they continued to experience multiple health problems.”
The Hidden Toll of Treatment
With survival rates climbing to over 70%, aggressive treatments can leave lasting damage. “We now see people being cured of cancer but dying of heart disease that we gave them through the cancer treatment,” Professor Chan says. “People’s hearts are failing because of the treatment; people have all sorts of sexual problems, dysfunctions, memory loss; people are experiencing neuropathy. These are physical problems like pain and fatigue, but we’re also talking about mental health issues. We know that people with cancer can experience far more emotional difficulties, depression, and even social and financial problems.”
One young woman he mentions was seeing a staggering 13 specialists after her cancer treatment. Through his research, Professor Chan aims to manage such challenges holistically.
A Multidisciplinary Approach
“For this, we need to educate GPs on how to deal with all of those issues. We need to empower people,” he says. “We need to come up with drug options and social system solutions to try to help all these people have the best quality of life ... ultimately, we can save lives.”
Professor Chan works with a team of up to 40 researchers from various fields, all united by a common goal: delivering change for cancer care in Australia and worldwide. “There is no health problem that is going to require just one discipline in the future – that’s yesterday’s medicine,” he explains. “I rely on my multidisciplinary team to make this all work. Together we are delivering changes for cancer survivors in Australia and we are having a global impact.”
