Cancer.Net: ASCO Unveils New Name for Its Patient Information Website
ASCO's patient information website, formerly People Living With Cancer (PLWC), is now Cancer.Net and can be found online at www.cancer.net. Cancer.Net brings ASCO's expertise and resources to people living with cancer and those who care for and about them. Cancer.Net is made possible by The ASCO Cancer Foundation, which provides support for cutting-edge cancer research, education, and patient information. All of the information and content on the site was developed and approved by the Cancer.Net Editorial Board, composed of more than 150 medical, surgical, radiation, and pediatric oncologists, oncology nurses, social workers, and patient advocates, making Cancer.Net the most up-to-date and trusted resource for cancer information on the Internet. Each section of the site is designed to provide detailed, easy-to-understand information on cancer care and treatment.
The Cancer Types section provides patients with comprehensive, peer-reviewed guides on more than 120 types of cancer and cancer-related syndromes, including Spanish language versions of the most common types of adult and childhood cancer in the U.S. Hispanic population. Each guide contains the following sections:
Overview
Medical Illustrations
Risk Factors
Symptoms
Diagnosis
Staging
Treatment
Side Effects
After Treatment
Current Research
Questions to Ask the Doctor
Patient Information Resources
Cancer.Net's section on Learning About Cancer provides patients with a basic overview of cancer, including information on understanding statistics, risk factors, genetics, and staging. This section also contains prevention strategies, based on the ASCO Curriculum: Cancer Prevention, which can help patients learn about ways to prevent and lower the risk of cancer.
Cancer.Net's Diagnosis and Treatment section includes ASCO's Find an Oncologist database, descriptions of common diagnostic tests, detailed information on how patients can find and participate in clinical trials, and strategies for managing side effects, based on the ASCO Curriculum Optimizing Cancer Care: The Importance of Symptom Management. This section also includes new information based on the 2007 Institute of Medicine report Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs, intended to help patients cope with psychosocial barriers to treatment.
The Coping section is designed to help patients understand and cope with emotional, physical, and family changes that can accompany their diagnosis. Patients can find guidance on talking to others about their illness, including a spouse or partner, teenager, child, or grandchild; friends and family members can read suggestions for sensitively talking to a loved one with cancer about his or her diagnosis. In addition, this section provides information on dealing with age-specific challenges for parents, teenagers, and older adults.
The Survivorship section of Cancer.Net can help patients learn about adjusting to various life changes following cancer treatment. It provides information about long-term side effects, rehabilitation options, and childhood cancer survivorship, and includes a list of resources for cancer survivors. This section contains ASCO's Cancer Treatment Summaries, which are printable forms that can help patients keep track of their treatment and follow-up care.
The Library section offers many tools to help facilitate the patient learning process: Cancer.Net Features, which are weekly articles that provide in-depth information about specific topics related to cancer care and treatment; audio podcasts adapted from Cancer.Net's patient information; and anatomy and staging illustrations. This section also provides links to searchable drug databases and information to help patients find financial assistance and support groups.
In the ASCO Resources section, visitors can find a portal to ASCO's other patient information resources. It includes ASCO's new fact sheet series for patients: each fact sheet is a one-page handout that provides a basic overview of a specific type of cancer. In addition, this section houses the newsletter Cancer Advances, which offers summaries of current research presented at ASCO's Annual and thematic meetings and published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. There also are ASCO Patient Guides, which are patient-friendly summaries of ASCO's Clinical Practice Guidelines for Physicians. This section also features Cancer.Net's slide deck series, turn-key Microsoft PowerPoint presentations on the 20 most common types of cancer that are intended for oncologists, oncology nurses, and other health care team members to use in presentations for patients.
In addition to Spanish language Guides to Cancer, Cancer.Net's En Español section includes translated information on finding clinical trials, managing side effects, and quitting smoking, as well as the most popular ASCO Patient Guides. Cancer.Net will continue to add ASCO content to this section.
Visit ASCO's patient information booth to browse Cancer.Net, learn about the latest patient-friendly print materials, and pick up promotional items to direct your patients to Cancer.Net.
Explore Resources for Your Patients at the Annual Meeting
Looking for new patient-friendly information? Stop by ASCO's patient information station at the ASCO Booth (Booth #8002) in the Exhibit Hall (located in Hall A1 and Hall A2, Level 3, South Building) to watch website demonstrations and take a virtual tour of ASCO's patient information website, Cancer.Net (www.cancer.net), formerly People Living With Cancer. From today through Monday, June 2, ASCO's patient information booth is open 9:00 AM-5:00 PM.
At the patient information booth, visitors can find the full collection of Cancer.Net Guides to Cancer. These booklets on breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers are adapted from Cancer.Net's online guides of more than 120 types of cancer and cancer-related syndromes. Each printed guide contains: an overview, medical illustrations, risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis, staging with illustrations, treatment, clinical trials, side effects, after treatment, current research, and questions to ask the doctor.
Cancer in Older Adults, Cancer.Net's publication for older adults is adapted from the ASCO Curriculum: Cancer Care in the Older Population and also will be available at the booth. It provides information on the physical and emotional changes that are associated with aging and cancer, including recommendations for coping with daily life, cancer treatment, and co-existing conditions.
Cancer.Net's Fact Sheet series gives patients and their families a basic introduction to major cancer types. Each fact sheet includes an overview of the cancer type, an illustration of where the cancer starts, how it is treated, terms to know, and questions to ask the doctor. Several new titles will be available at the patient information booth.
Brain tumor
Breast cancer
Cervical cancer
Lung cancer
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Melanoma
Multiple myeloma
Oral and oropharyngeal cancer
Thyroid cancer
Uterine cancer
In addition, fact sheets are available for bladder, colorectal, esophageal, kidney, liver, pancreatic, prostate, stomach, and testicular cancers.
ASCO Patient Guides, based on ASCO's Clinical Practice Guidelines for Physicians, are designed to help patients understand the recommended treatment for different types of cancer and cancer-related symptoms. They provide background information, discuss the recommendations, explain what those recommendations mean for patients, and list questions that patients can ask of their doctors.
Visit the ASCO patient information booth to learn how to order these free educational and promotional materials for your waiting room or patient education area.
