Reference

Survivorship Glossary

Plain-language definitions of the terms you'll hear across survivorship care — for survivors, families, and clinicians. Search or filter below.

Survivorship: The phase of care that begins at cancer diagnosis and continues for the rest of a person's life. It includes surveillance for recurrence, late effects of treatment, primary care, and quality-of-life support.
Late effect: A health problem that appears months or years after cancer treatment ends. Examples: heart weakness from anthracyclines, thyroid changes from radiation, fertility loss.
Cardio-oncology: The subspecialty that watches for and treats heart problems caused by cancer therapy. Common surveillance includes echocardiogram after anthracycline or HER2 therapy.
Anthracycline: A family of chemotherapy drugs (doxorubicin, epirubicin, daunorubicin) known to cause dose-dependent heart weakness years after treatment.
HER2-directed therapy: Drugs like trastuzumab that target HER2-positive cancers. Can reduce heart-pumping strength, usually reversibly, but requires monitoring.
Cumulative dose: The total lifetime amount of a drug or radiation a person has received. Late-effect risk usually scales with cumulative dose.
Radiation field: The exact body area a radiation beam targeted. Late effects depend on what tissues were inside the field — thyroid, heart, breast, bowel, brain.
Deprescribing: The planned reduction or discontinuation of a medication that is no longer needed or where the risks now outweigh the benefits.
COG-LTFU: The Children's Oncology Group Long-Term Follow-Up Guidelines: the reference schedule for surveilling late effects in childhood-cancer survivors.
NCCN Survivorship: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network's survivorship guidelines: adult-focused recommendations for pain, sleep, fatigue, sexual function, and more.
ASCO survivorship: American Society of Clinical Oncology guidelines covering survivorship care plans, cardio-oncology, fertility, and prevention.
Care plan: A written summary of your cancer treatment, follow-up schedule, and late-effect risks. Every survivor should have one.
Treatment summary: A one-page record of the cancers, drugs, doses, radiation fields, surgeries, and dates that make up your treatment history.
HSCT re-vaccination: The formal re-immunization schedule after a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, because the previous immune memory is lost.
PMPM: Per member per month. The monthly payment structure common in membership medicine and value-based contracts.
HEDIS: Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set — quality metrics used by payers to compare plans and providers. Several apply to survivors.
AYA: Adolescent and Young Adult — usually ages 15 to 39. This group has distinct survivorship needs and often falls between pediatric and adult systems.
Second cancer: A new cancer that is not a return of the original one. Some treatments raise the risk of specific second cancers.
Chemo-brain: A common survivor complaint of foggy thinking, word-finding trouble, and slower processing after treatment. Medically referred to as cancer-related cognitive impairment.
Distress screening: A brief validated questionnaire — often the NCCN Distress Thermometer — used to identify survivors who need psychosocial support.
Value-based care: Payment arrangements that reward outcomes and total cost of care instead of visit volume. Survivorship fits value-based models unusually well.
Shared savings: A value-based contract where a clinic keeps part of the money saved when it reduces avoidable spending for a defined panel.
Whitespace: A category with clear demand and few operators. Survivorship primary care is a rare healthcare whitespace.