Cancer rehabilitation

Cancer has changed from being a condition with a poor prognosis where the emphasis was on treatment aimed at stopping or slowing the cancer to one which frequently is a chronic condition, or at least a condition in which survival may be measured in years rather than months. The natural consequence of this is that rehabilitation has become an important aspect of management, and a vital one if a person is to fully take advantage of successful cancer treatment. Different terminologies are used concerning rehabilitation so it may not be immediately obvious that it is provided: examples are that many of the components of cancer survivorship programmes are rehabilitative in nature and the term ‘supportive care’ often covers rehabilitation.