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U.S. News and World Report notes that in early 2012, “there were 13.7 million cancer survivors in the United States – a number that is expected to grow 31 percent to 18 million by 2022, according to a 2013 American Association for Cancer Research study.”
Said Holly Mead, a professor of health policy at George Washington University: ”The view of cancer is shifting more toward chronic illness.”
In effect, both the health care system and employers need to shift how they treat patients now that they're “living longer with cancer or surviving cancer, but still really experiencing pretty substantial health and certainly psychosocial issues that are stemming from cancer or their treatment.”
For example, some cancer survivors grapple with infertility, fatigue and a sort of brain fog dubbed ‘chemo brain' for years – or even for the rest of their lives.
Said Mead: “Certainly the health care system is trying to keep up. Employers need to be thinking about it in the same way.”
According to data from nearly 400 metastatic breast cancer survivors, of the 50 percent of people who left their jobs after their cancer diagnosis, half them did so involuntarily. Increased screening programs can help make a cancer diagnosis early.
As Dr. Larry Norton notes, significant progress has been made in recent years in stopping cancer before it spreads.
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation points out that screening, by providing early detection, “not only increases survival rates but also minimizes the chances of needing a mastectomy or requiring chemotherapy. And just as importantly, annual mammograms can reduce the risk of metastasis, because it’s only when cancer spreads that it turns lethal (metastasis is the cause of 90 percent of cancer deaths).” It also leads to less disruption in the workplace.