Center for Survivorship and Patient-Oriented Research

Our mission is to make survivorship care better for patients and their families by focusing on what is most important to them. We are dedicated to improving the lives of everyone affected by cancer, from diagnosis through treatment to long-term survivorship, ensuring they receive the best care at every stage of their journey.

The Center for Survivorship and Patient-Oriented Research (CSPOR) is at the leading edge of cancer research, addressing emerging trends and shaping the future of survivorship care. Challenges and opportunities include:

• Growing Survivor Population: With advances in cancer treatment, patients are living longer (this includes those with active disease and those without evidence of disease). This means the number of cancer survivors is growing rapidly, and so is the need for resources and expanded survivorship care. In 2022, there were 18 million cancer survivors in the U.S., about 5.4% of the population. By 2040, this is expected to rise to 26 million.  
• Quality of Life Focus: Emphasizing the importance of quality of life, we focus on patient-reported outcomes and social determinants of health in cancer care research, to better understand what matters to patients.
• Shift to Outpatient Care: As more cancer treatments move from hospitals to outpatient settings, patients and caregivers are taking on a bigger role in managing symptoms and care. Survivorship programs need to evolve to support them in managing this responsibility.
• Mobile Health Technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI): Along with the rise of mobile health tools, the rise of wearables and other digital health tools provides new opportunities for at-home monitoring and data collection to improve cancer outcomes, especially for patients in rural communities. AI and machine learning are helping us analyze the vast amounts of data these tools generate, driving new insights and interventions.
• Advanced Research Technologies: By using technologies like genetic sequencing and immune profiling, we’re speeding up our understanding of cancer, biology and markers of risk, including the phenomenon of accelerated aging after cancer.

To learn more about CSPOR, contact CSPOR-Info@kumc.edu.