Recent advances in immuno-oncology (IO) therapies have been rewarded by rapid, durable responses for subsets of patients in many cancers that have been resistant to conventional treatments. Just as with developments with chemotherapy and targeted therapies, increasing numbers of IO patients with metastatic disease are transitioning into post-treatment survivorship. However, these patients may experience late physical and psychosocial effects of cancer and its treatment (e.g., depression, pain, fatigue), which can negatively impact quality of life.
In the videos below expert panels discuss the unique survivorship needs of IO patients, including improving care coordination and communication within the multidisciplinary team and how to meet patients’ psychosocial and physical well-being needs. The discussion identify actionable steps for cancer care providers and allied healthcare professionals to address the survivorship needs of this patient population.
Don S. Dizon, MD, FACP, FASCO, is a professor of Medicine at Brown University. He is a medical oncologist specializing in the care of women with breast or gynecologic cancers, survivorship particularly as it pertains to sexual health for men and women with cancer, patient engagement, and social media. He grew up on the Pacific Island of Guam and completed undergraduate and medical school at the University of Rochester in New York. He trained in Internal Medicine at Yale New-Haven Hospital and completed a fellowship in Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He serves as the Director of Women’s Cancers and Director of Hematology-Oncology clinics at Lifespan Cancer Institute and Director of Medical Oncology at Rhode Island Hospital. Additionally, he is the Chair of Digital Engagement for SWOG Oncology Research Network and previously served as the Chair of the Cancer Communications Committee and Social Media Working Group of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). He writes an online column for the journal, The Oncologist, and for ASCO Connection, and his writings have been honored with American Publishing Excellence (APEX) awards. Dr. Dizon is on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok @drdonsdizon.
Neha G. Goyal, PhD, is a clinical psychologist at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from The Ohio State University. She completed an American Psychological Association-approved clinical internship with a Behavioral Medicine Specialization at the Palo Alto VA. She then went on to complete a clinical post-doctoral fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Care at the Palo Alto VA and a research post-doctoral fellowship in Cancer Survivorship at the Wake Forest School of Medicine. In psycho-oncology, Dr. Goyal uses cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness-based approaches to help patients and their family members cope with the emotional and physical challenges of a cancer diagnosis, from active treatment to survivorship and end-of-life. Dr. Goyal’s research interests include the development and implementation of psychological interventions to improve quality of life in patients with cancer.
Regina Jacob, MD, MSCE, is an assistant professor of Clinical Medicine at The Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in North Philadelphia. She received her MD degree from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., completed her internal medicine residency at Temple University Hospital, and earned a master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology at The Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University in Manhattan, New York.
Dr. Jacob has two main research interests which both assess psychological adjustment and co-morbid medical conditions. She conducted a study called Coping with Lymphoma to Enhance Adjustment and Reduce Stress, which assessed the psychological adjustments which may occur after a diagnosis of lymphoma. She continues to grow her cancer survivorship expertise in education, designing curricula to educate internal medicine residents on how to appropriately tailor primary care for patients with a history of cancer.
Her second research interest involves assessing co-morbid conditions that result from chronic and cumulative trauma exposure. She is currently conducting a study called Trauma Alert! How Social Complexity Contributes to Medical Complexity, which assesses the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), adverse childhood experiences, depression, and co-morbidity in an underserved primary care population. While the effects of poverty on healthcare are known, there is still a large amount of work to be done with regards to how trauma associated with poverty results in negative health behaviors and subsequent poor medical and psychological outcomes.
Krista Nelson, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOS, serves as manager of oncology social work and program manager for quality and research of Cancer Support Services at Providence Cancer Institute in Portland, Oregon. Over the years, she has specialized in many cancers and is interested in the effect of cancer on the family. Krista defines her role as providing support for people and their families throughout the cancer continuum, and sharing the expertise that she has learned from other patients with cancer. What she loves about working with those affected with cancer is being able to witness the grace, courage and life lessons of individuals dealing with cancer and the opportunity to be a part of their journey.
Nelson served as president of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) from 2021-2022. Nelson is also a Past President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Oncology Social Work (AOSW) and past Invited Director of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS). She also served as Director on the board of directors of the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), and as Director of the American Clinical Social Work Association (ACSWA). In 2019, the Association of Oncology Social Work presented Nelson its Leadership in Oncology Social Work Award.
Nelson received a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, and a Master of Social Work degree from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon
Thomas J. Smith, MD, FACP, FASCO, FAAHPM is an oncologist and palliative care specialist with a lifelong interest in better symptom management and improving access to high-quality affordable care. He is the director of Palliative Medicine for Johns Hopkins Medicine, charged with integrating palliative care into all of the Johns Hopkins venues. The palliative care consult service sees over 1,500 new patients a year, and a research agenda with “Scrambler Therapy” for chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder pain, and central pain; palliative care for patients on Phase I drug trials, palliative care for patients undergoing Whipple procedures, and others. With Patrick Coyne, MSN, ACHPN, ACNS-BC, FAAN, FPCN, and others, he helped start the Thomas Palliative Care Unit and Program at VCU-MCV in the late 1990s.
Dr. Smith has been recognized in “Best Doctors in America” for many years and is a Fellow in the American College of Physician, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. He received the American Cancer Society Trish Greene Quality of Life Award for “outstanding research that benefits cancer patients and their families,” and in 2018 was recognized as a “Visionary in Palliative Care” by AAHPM. In 2019 he received the Project on Death in America Palliative Medicine National Leadership Award, and the Walther Cancer Foundation-endowed ASCO award for excellence in palliative and supportive care in oncology. He has published over 350 articles, editorials and reviews, and helps write the test questions for the ABIM hospice and palliative medicine exam.
Robin Yabroff, PhD, is an epidemiologist and Senior Scientific Director, Health Services Research, at the American Cancer Society. She conducts research on financial hardship and economic burden of cancer; patterns of cancer care, including high-cost prescription drugs; health insurance benefit design; and patient, provider, and health system factors associated with quality and value of cancer care. Dr. Yabroff has more than 25 years of health services research experience. Prior to joining the American Cancer Society, she held positions within the Office of Health Policy, Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Health Services and Economics Branch of the National Cancer Institute, and the faculty of the Lombardi Cancer Center, Georgetown University. She currently serves as an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Medicine, the Johns Hopkins University, and adjunct professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University.
Dr. Yabroff has co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, and co-authored invited editorials, commentaries, and book chapters. She is an associate editor for the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, a founding member of the editorial board of the Journal of Cancer Survivorship, and a member of the editorial board of the JCO Oncology Practice. She served as a guest editor for the Medical Care journal supplement, “Health Care Costing: Data, Methods, Future Directions,” and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute journal supplement, “Comparing Cancer Care and Economic Outcomes Across Health Systems: Challenges and Opportunities.” Dr. Yabroff received multiple National Institutes of Health Merit Awards for her research leadership and mentorship. She is a frequent speaker at national and international research meetings and serves as a panelist and think tank participant on topics related to economic burden of cancer, financial hardship, and the role of health insurance in access to high-quality cancer care.