Cancer and Chronic Conditions

This book addresses the growing problem of multimorbidity in cancer patients and survivors with the focus on how to best integrate the effective cancer care with the care of multiple chronic conditions. As cancer is more prevalent in older individuals, many patients with cancer also suffer from other chronic conditions that impact on the uptake, tolerance and outcomes of cancer treatment and their long term mortality and morbidity. In addition, cancer and its treatment increase the risk of future chronic conditions.  

Readers will examine the prevalence and predictors of chronic conditions in cancer, impact of chronic conditions on screening and treatment, evidence for preventative strategies that address both cancer and chronic conditions, emerging management and care integration strategies and directions for management of multimorbidity in special cancer populations - the very young, the very old and those at the end of life.

Authored by clinicians and researchers from diverse expertise including epidemiology, sociology, hematology, medical oncology, palliative care, pharmacy and representing Australia, New Zealand, US, Canada and the Netherlands, the book brings an international perspective to a problem that affects all cancer settings.

The book is going to be of interest to diverse professionals interested in cancer control including epidemiologists, public health researchers, policy makers as well as clinicians dealing with cancer patients within specialist cancer and non-cancer and primary care settings.

Professor Bogda Koczwara is a medical oncologist at the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer in Adelaide and the National Breast Cancer Foundation Fellow. Her clinical interests revolve around management of breast cancer, survivorship care, psychooncology and supportive care and she has a particular interest in strengthening of the interface between specialist and primary care for cancer patients, especially in rural Australia. Professor Koczwara leads the Survivorship Program at the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer. She is the Lead in Survivorship for the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute Comprehensive Cancer Consortium and she leads the development and implementation of the survivorship framework for cancer patients in South Australia.

Professor Koczwara is the past President of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA), the peak cancer professional organisation in Australia and the past president of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia (MOGA), the national professional organisation of medical oncologists. She is the initiator and the immediate past Chair the Australia Asia Pacific Clinical Oncology Research Development, a collaborative of international cancer organisations aimed at improving cancer research capacity in Australia and Asia Pacific.

Professor Koczwara has been recognized as a Member of the Order of Australia in January 2015 for her services to oncology through clinical practice, education and research and through a range of professional organisations.