As treatments for childhood cancers improve, the number of long-term survivors of childhood cancer increases. The Cancer Control and Survivorship Program, a multidisciplinary research program of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center, strives to improve the quality of life of individuals surviving childhood cancer. We do this by conducting clinical, genetic and observational research, and translating our findings into effective strategies to reduce treatment-related complications and improve the quality of life of childhood cancer survivors.
This innovative and integrated research program spans the breadth of epidemiological, clinical and interventional research. Knowledge gained from this research has influenced the design of contemporary pediatric cancer treatment strategies and provided critical data to guide health surveillance and health-preserving interventions for long-term survivors.
Through unique studies of large national and institutional cohorts of cancer survivors, program members are conducting research on a wide range of health-related and quality of life outcomes. The design and conduct of innovative research is facilitated by seven discipline-specific working groups:
Members of the Cancer Control and Survivorship Program represent diverse departments at St. Jude including Epidemiology & Cancer Control, Oncology, Psychology and Biobehavioral Sciences, Global Pediatric Medicine, and Pediatric Medicine.
Melissa Hudson, MD, director of the Division of Cancer Survivorship, and Greg Armstrong, MD, MSCE, of the Department of Epidemiology & Cancer Control, lead the program. Their leadership roles in two large, NCI-funded cohorts, St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study (St. Jude LIFE) and the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), have facilitated seminal discoveries characterizing the magnitude and scope of morbidity of the childhood cancer experience, including the resulting burden of chronic disease and subsequent neoplasms and their contribution to premature mortality.
Kirsten K. Ness, PT, PhD, FAPTA - Co-Leader, Cancer Control and Survivorship Program
Greg Armstrong, MD, MSCE - Co-Leader, Cancer Control and Survivorship Program