Over the past decade, the world has demonstrated an increased interest in and awareness of the unique needs of cancer survivors. Survivorship care plans are a communication tool intended to provide guidelines for the healthcare of survivors as they complete active cancer care, and for the duration of their lives. The Internet represents a unique way to communicate with cancer survivors, and data from several groups indicate that increasing numbers of survivors both desire information about their care and seek this information on the Internet. A handful of US-based groups have developed Internet-based tools for the creation of survivorship care plans. The first of these, the LIVESTRONG Care Plan (www.livestrongcareplan.org), is available via theOncoLinkcancer information website based at the University of Pennsylvania. Data from the first three years since the launch of this tool demonstrate increasing use by survivors from nearly every continent, with international users accounting for 16% of total users. Data from these users also demonstrate wide variability with regard to receipt of previous survivorship information and treatment summaries based on location of residence. This variation emphasises the vital role that Internet-based survivorship care plans may continue to play in the care of survivors worldwide.
How will cancer survivors use survivorship care plans?