Oncology in Primary Care

Group

We aim to provide the building blocks for future-proof, person-oriented, and appropriate care for patients with and beyond cancer in general practice

The ‘Oncology in General Practice’ group specifically focuses on:

Identification, diagnosis and prognosis of (long-term) symptoms and late effects of cancer treatment;
Interventions to affect consequences of cancer treatment, increase quality of life and improve quality of care in cancer patients and survivors;
Substitution of secondary follow-up care to primary care, and collaboration between involved health care professionals
Implementation and evaluation of integrated models of oncological care.

Relevance

How our research benefits to society

There is a challenge for the Dutch health care service to continue to provide the best possible care for the growing number of cancer patients and survivors. Currently, GPs are formally involved in the diagnostic phase and the terminal phase. Yet, their involvement during and after treatment and during follow-up care is growing, due to an increasing number of cancer survivors and because of the remaining pressure on secondary care. Herewith, a greater formal role for primary care in the care for patients with cancer is proposed, for example by substituting (parts of) routine follow-up care from secondary to primary care.

To include effective primary care in the whole cancer care trajectory, research is needed to fill in the gaps in our knowledge, e.g., with regard to adequate survivorship support both at short- and long-term after diagnosis and treatment, and effective organization of this care.