Giving Compass' Take:

• According to a new study highlighted by Futurity, physicians often fail to discuss healthy lifestyle changes with cancer survivors.

• Why is this research important for the healthcare industry? Why is there not enough "time" to address health advice with patients? 

• Find your approach to help fight cancer here. 

The findings are noteworthy because maintaining a healthy lifestyle is especially important to the long-term health of survivors.

Cancer survivors face increased risks of cardiovascular disease and other conditions, and guidelines advise physicians—including oncologists—to encourage survivors to adopt healthy lifestyles to help protect their long-term health. But less than 30% of oncologists in the study says they do so.

“Even though oncologists clearly believe that cancer survivors should adopt a healthy lifestyle, they said they don’t have the time to address more than cancer care,” says lead author Tammy Stump, a postdoctoral fellow in the preventative medicine department at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

Stump and senior author Bonnie Spring, among others, investigated the extent to which physicians make healthy lifestyle recommendations. They surveyed 91 physicians: 30 primary care physicians; 30 oncologists; and 31 specialists (urologists, gynecologists, and dermatologists) who treat survivors of prostate cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma, respectively. They also conducted interviews with 12 of the oncologists who were sent the survey.

Read the full article about health advice for cancer survivors by Kristin Samuelson at Futurity.