Study: Cancer survivors need ongoing help

EVANSTON, Ill., June 3 (UPI) -- Cancer survivors suffer problems with pain, fatigue, sleep, memory and concentration three to five years after treatment has ended, U.S. researchers say.

"We were surprised to see how prevalent these symptoms still are," study co-investigator Lynne Wagner, an associate professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University, said in a university release Friday.

"This is one of the first looks at what's really happening for survivors in terms of symptoms and treatment among community-based treatment settings across the United States," she said.

The persistent pain in cancer-free survivors who are no longer receiving any treatment is particularly worrying, Wagner said, because good treatments exist.

"It seems we haven't come a long way in managing pain despite a lot of medical advances," she said. "This is eye-opening. It tells us we need to be better in clinical practice about managing our survivors' pain."

Cancer survivors are falling through the cracks in healthcare in terms of getting treatment for their pain and other symptoms, Wagner said.

"We don't have a great system to provide care to cancer survivors," she said. "Cancer survivors are left trying to put the pieces together to find optimal care. They ideally need to see someone who is knowledgeable about the long-term effects of treatment."