Building a Successful Survivorship Program of Any Size

This resource center features survivorship programs in the U.S. that have been recognized for their excellence in caring for childhood and adolescent survivors. These institutions have received the Children’s Cancer Cause Survivorship Champion’s Prize, or a recognition award in a category of distinction, for their achievements in providing life-long health maintenance for survivors of pediatric cancers.

This resource provides guidance for institutions interested in creating, expanding, or improving a survivorship care program. If you’re seeking advice from one of these established programs, we provide contact information of program leadership and encourage you to reach out.

We plan to continue adding more resources and videos to this page. If there is a particular topic about survivorship programs you’d like to learn more about, reach out to let us know.

 

Childhood, Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancer Survivorship Program, City of Hope

This program was selected for the Survivorship Champion’s Prize in 2023 based on their multidisciplinary approach to improving the quality of health and well-being of survivors by helping them prevent, identify, and manage late effects from their treatment. The program is also noteworthy because of the creation of the Southern California Pediatric and Adolescent Cancer Survivorship Consortium to expand the geographic reach of City of Hope’s services and promote research and evidence-based care in the ethnically divser population of childhood cancer survivors throughout Southern California.

Dr. Rusha Bhandari answers the question: What's one thing that stands out about your program?


Childhood Cancer Survivorship Program at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital

This program was awarded the Survivorship Champion's Prize in 2024 in recognition of its comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to helping prevent, identify, and manage physical and psychosocial late effects from treatment. Another identified program strength is its transition program for young adult survivors in partnership with local primary care physicians, and the use of telemedicine.

Dr. Smita Dandekar answers the question: What's one thing that stands out about your program?


Long-term Information Treatment-Effects Evaluation (LITE) Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute

The LITE Program for Pediatric Cancer Survivors at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey was selected for a Recognition Award for Scalability in 2020, for their work with other healthcare resources in the community beyond the academic medical center to refer AYA survivors to community health centers and medical practices affiliated with local hospitals to transition to adult medical care. The LITE Program was also recognized for the Peer Mentoring and Online Self-Management Program being developed through two research studies engaging LITE AYA survivors. This virtual program allows survivors and trained mentors to connect from anywhere, and new content may easily be updated as research emerges.

Hear from Dawn M. Carey RN, MSN, APN, the LITE Program Coordinator, and Archana Sharma, DO, Assistant Medical Director of the LITE Program, about how their program started, what it looks like today, and their advice for new programs starting out.


The Transition Oncology Program (TOP) at St. Jude

This program was awarded the 2022 Survivorship Champion’s Recognition Award for Program Impact. The award recognized TOP’s efforts to support survivors and families through major care transitions with its guidance and education around specific transition-related needs, as well as its navigation services to identify and engage with resources in their local communities to address survivors’ needs. Another critical program component is its efforts to coordinate care with health care providers in their home community.

Emily Browne, DNP, director of the Transition Oncology Program (TOP) at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, tells us about their survivorship program and what makes it unique.


Yale University HEROS Clinic for Childhood Cancer Survivors

The HEROS Clinic for Childhood Cancer Survivorship at Yale School of Medicine received the Recognition Award for Impact in 2020, for efforts to improve clinical outcomes in adolescent and young adult cancer patients with the creation of a multidisciplinary Oncofertility Program, partnering with faculty in the Urology, Pediatric Surgery, and Gynecology Departments to improve affordable and timely fertility preservation in newly diagnosed patients. The HEROS clinic also collaborates with medical oncology colleagues to open adult therapeutic trials to younger patients.

Rozalyn Rodwin, MD, of the HEROS Clinic for Childhood Cancer Survivorship at Yale School of Medicine answers: What's something that's unique about your program? What advice do you have for someone building a program of their own?


 

Phoenix Children’s Hospital Survivorship Program

The Phoenix Children’s Hospital Survivorship Program was awarded the 2022 Survivorship Champion's Prize in recognition of their patient-centric research and impressive multidisciplinary care model, as well as their unique focus on rural care needs and its creation of specialized cardio-oncology and neuro-oncology clinics.

The survivorship program staff at Phoenix Children's Hospital discuss the program's mission and what makes it unique. They give advice to those interested in starting a program.

 

Aflac Survivor Program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

The Cancer Survivor Program at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center received the Children’s Cancer Cause Survivorship Champion's Prize in 2021, in recognition of their efforts to provide Survivorship Care Plans to all survivors, their integration into the electronic medical record, the development of SurvivorLink, as well as dedicated programs to help prepare survivors transition to adult-based care.


Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center Pediatric Survivorship Program: David B. Perini Jr., Quality of Life Clinic for Childhood Cancer Survivors, The Stop and Shop Pediatric Neurooncology Outcomes Clinic, Stem Cell Transplant Long-Term Follow-Up Program

The David B. Perini, Jr. Quality of Life Clinic for Childhood Cancer Survivors at Dana-Farber received a Collaboration recognition award in 2022, for Project Reach and the regional Consortium for New England Childhood Cancer Survivors (CONNECCS), to improve the care of survivors throughout the region.


Treatment After Cancer and Late Effects (TACLE) Clinic at Manning Family Children’s

This program received a Recognition Award for Impact in 2021, as the only survivorship clinic dedicated to taking care of pediatric cancer patients in the Gulf South region and providing needed services to a very large, underserved population.


After the Cancer Treatment Survivorship (ACTS) Program at Rady Children’s Health (formerly Children’s Hospital of Orange County)

This program received a Recognition Award for Collaboration in 2021, for its efforts to provide resources to high-risk patients to successfully navigate transition from pediatric care to adult care, school reintegration programs, and education of and networking between community providers and survivors.


Texas Children’s Long-Term Survivor Program (anticipated name change to Kinder Cancer Center Long-Term Survivor Program in 2026)

Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers Long-Term Survivor Program was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Survivorship Champion’s Prize in 2020, for its innovative work to provide comprehensive, integrated care for childhood cancer survivors. It serves as a model for survivorship through their efforts to maximize quality of life of survivors, furthering research on late effects, and educating survivors with critical resources. The program was also recognized for its unique web-based clinical decision-making tool, Passport for Care, which provides personalized risk assessment for late effects and surveillance recommendations based on the patient’s diagnosis and treatment exposures.


 

ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation

The ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation (Richmond, VA) was recognized in 2022 with a Scalability award, for providing comprehensive educational support for childhood cancer survivors from preschool through young adulthood, with a focus on reaching survivors where they are in the community.