Life After Cancer
A local state-of-the-art center specializes in patients who have survived childhood cancer. Learn more about this center, why it's unique and why people travel nationwide for its cutting edge care. 

Before they turn 20, one in 300 hears these chilling words from their physician: "You have cancer." The Cincinnati Children's Cancer Survivor Center exists for those who beat the vicious disease and survive into adulthood.

The center works to help a growing demographic of people whose needs range from medical attention to therapy, says Cincinnati Children's spokesperson Nick Miller. "One thing that occurs in medicine, especially oncology, is that medical resources over the last 20 years have helped more and more people survive cancer, and as that has been the case, the need for long term care and resources also grows," Miller says. "I think one of the primary reasons for that is the disease itself, but also the treatment that patients receive can have an impact on the body, and it can create later health problems."

For that reason, the center does everything it can to help patients thrive in their daily lives, including "annual health screenings, coordination of any medical care issues they might have, and addressing any quality of life issues the patient might have," says Miller. "A growing piece of everything is just helping patients transition from pediatric to adult care."

The center currently sees around 1,000 patients, ages five to 60, who have survived cancer for at least five years. And the importance of what the center does is evident in the numbers, Miller says.

"One in 450 young adults is a childhood cancer survivor. Almost two-thirds of survivors will have at least one chronic health condition because of their cancer or its treatment. Those statistics speak to the important of the resource," Miller says.

Additionally, Cincinnati Children's has been one of the first medical institutions to address the growing need of rehabilitating childhood cancer survivors, Miller says. This is reflected in the fact that Cincinnati Children's is ranked third for cancer care among America's children's hospitals.

"You have a number of physicians at Cincinnati who are leading national consortiums and committees and are dedicated to finding better treatments and cures for cancer," Miller says. "There's tremendous research and medical care for oncology. It's not just a survivor center -- the reason it's here is because that great technology for cures exists right here."

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