HOUSTON, October 8, 2008 – Texas Children’s Cancer
Center today launched Passport for Care, an innovative
Web-based application that provides childhood cancer
survivors and their physicians with immediate access to
a survivor’s diagnosis and treatment history. Passport
for Care provides detailed, individualized health care
recommendations based on the most up-to-date national
survivorship care guidelines.
Passport for Care inventor and Texas Children’s Cancer
Center director
Dr. David Poplack said the Web-based solution, one
of the first to address the critically important issues
pediatric cancer survivors face, will be offered free to
physicians, and ultimately, survivors, with the goal of
helping them live longer, healthier lives
While survival rates for childhood cancer have increased
to more than 75 percent in recent years, cancer
treatment may cause health complications that arise
later in life. According to a 2006 study published in
the New England Journal of Medicine, some 70 percent of
childhood cancer survivors will develop chronic medical
problems related to their original cancer diagnosis
within 30 years’ time. In many of the survivors, these
conditions may be severe or life-threatening.
In addition to late effects, childhood cancer survivors
face other issues as well. Most U.S. hospitals do not
have cancer survivor programs or physicians who are
experienced in treating childhood cancer survivors and
the health issues they may face. Also, many survivors
lose track of their treatment histories as they become
adults. Passport for Care is designed to address these
issues and support physicians and survivors worldwide by
providing immediate access to individualized
recommendations tailored to a survivor’s unique health
care needs. These treatment plans are generated from the
survivor’s medical history and use the most up-to-date
guidelines for care developed by the Children’s Oncology
Group, an international consortium of childhood cancer
centers.
Pediatric cancer survivors choose to enroll in Passport
for Care upon completing treatment. Information is
accessible only to the survivor and physicians to whom
the survivor grants access.
Passport for Care becomes available at a crucial time.
The Centers for Disease Control and the President’s
Cancer Panel have identified cancer survivorship as a
national health priority. There are nearly 12 million
cancer survivors in the United States – 300,000 of them
childhood cancer survivors – who are at risk for health
complications resulting from their original cancer
diagnosis and treatment.
“It is exciting to see this first phase of Passport for
Care become reality,” stated Dr. Poplack, who saw the
need for Passport for Care more than 20 years ago. “It
is incredibly important to childhood cancer survivors
and their families that these survivors receive proper
care once they are cured. Passport for Care supports
this need by providing accurate information to empower
survivors to manage their follow-up care – no matter
where they live or what type of physician they see.”
Developed by Texas Children’s Cancer Center in
collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine, phase one
of Passport for Care outlines health recommendations and
follow-up care plans for physicians who treat childhood
cancer survivors. The first phase has been pilot-tested
at the Texas Children’s Cancer Center, where more than
300 care plans for survivors have been created. The
second phase of development will provide survivors
access to their individual health recommendations,
empowering them to actively manage their ongoing care.
One of the centers that will soon receive Passport for
Care is City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in
Duarte, California. “We are looking forward to the
roll-out of Passport for Care,” said Dr. Smita Bhatia,
chair of Population Sciences at City of Hope. “This
resource will have far-reaching positive effects on the
quality of life of childhood cancer survivors, and will
provide them with control over their own medical
information and care.”
Ultimately, Dr. Poplack and the team at Texas Children’s
Cancer Center plan to expand access to all 238
Children’s Oncology Group member institutions by the
second half of 2009.
About Texas Children's Cancer Center
As an international leader in pediatric cancer research and
treatment, Texas Children's Cancer Center is dedicated to providing
novel therapies and family-centered care to children from infancy
through young adulthood with cancer and blood disorders – from the
most common to rare. Ranked in the top three pediatric cancer
centers nationwide by U.S. News &World Report, Texas Children’s
Cancer Center treats 1,900 new patients and conducts 33,000
outpatient visits annually, with patients coming from 35 states and
26 countries around the world. Learn more at
www.cancer.texaschildrens.org.
