Perspectives on follow-up care and research for childhood cancer survivors: results from an international SIOP meet-the-expert questionnaire in Kyoto, 2018

Introduction: Survival of childhood cancer has increased over the past decades. This has led to the development of strategies aiming to enhance follow-up care and research, for which priorities may vary globally. We explored perspectives of an international healthcare workers panel. Methods Attendants of a meet-the-expert session on childhood cancer survivorship at the 2018 SIOP conference completed a survey about their view on important follow-up care and research aspects for survivors below and over 18 years. We analyzed overarching categories and subtopics, and compared Asian versus European and American healthcare workers. Results Fifty-eight participants from different medical specialties (67.2% pediatric oncologists) and continents (48.3% Asia, 39.7% Europe/America) responded. Follow-up care priorities for survivors below and over 18 years included physical care (39.3% ≤18 years, 35.9% >18 years) and healthcare structure (29.4%, 26.0%). Physical care was also the most important research aspect for both age groups (52.5%, 50.7%). Asian clinicians (n=22) primarily prioritized physical care aspects of follow-up care (48.0%, 45.6%), whereas European/American (n=19) clinicians underscored the importance of healthcare structure (43.9%, 34.4%). The main research priority category concerned physical care for all clinicians. Psychological support was the most frequently reported subtopic. Conclusion Physical care is the most important aspect of survivorship care and research according to clinicians from several continents. Asian and European/American respondents shared most priorities, however, healthcare structure was a more important category for European/American clinicians. The most common subtopic was psychological support, underlining also the need to involve psychologists in follow-up.