Collaborative TACTIC Clinic Serves Adult
Survivors of Childhood Cancer

The TACTIC (Thriving After Cancer Treatment is Complete) clinic is a joint endeavor by the University of Colorado Hospital's Department of Internal Medicine, The Children's Hospital, and the University of Colorado Cancer Center. It aims to help health care patients and providers better understand the clinical and psychological effects of childhood cancers on patients who are now adults.

The "late effects" of childhood cancer. Adult survivors of childhood cancer may face "late effects" of treatment that include heart failure related to chemotherapy, neuro-cognitive deficits, anxiety, depression, and infertility. The TACTIC clinic is dedicated to providing health maintenance for these adult survivors.

Patient visits to the TACTIC clinic

Patients visiting the TACTIC clinic will:

Discussions between  UCH's
Jean Kutner, MD (above)
and The Children's Hospital
physicians Brian Greffe and
Kerry Moss led to the
formation of the TACTIC clinic.

• Meet with an oncologist, who assesses their condition and treatment history.
• Have an evaluation done of their overall health by a general internist, who makes any necessary referrals.
• Meet with a Cancer Center counselor, who will complete a psychological evaluation of the patient; a nurse care manager makes referrals, as needed, for psycho-social follow up.

Patients can also get telephone support for psycho-social needs via the Cancer Information Counseling Line (CICL). This line is staffed by counselors who know the issues faced by many adult survivors of childhood cancer.

A portable passport

TACTIC clinic patients receive a "passport" that they can take with them to different health care settings. The passport tells providers the type of cancer the patient had, treatment provided, and TACTIC physician recommendations for follow-up, screenings and surveillance.

More adult survivors need a resource

According to the American Cancer Society, more than three-quarters of children treated for cancer live five years or longer. That's up 45 percent since the early 1960s. The number of adult survivors of childhood cancer in the U.S. now exceeds a quarter million, and with the development of more effective treatment regimens, that number is expected to grow.

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a story appearing in the UCH Insider, our
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Despite these numbers, adult survivors of childhood cancer remain underserved in health care settings. Virtually no clinics focus specifically on the needs of these adult survivors. The TACTIC clinic is a welcome resource for those patients to help them maintain their physical health and emotional well-being.

Clinic information

The TACTIC clinic is located in the University – Anschutz Clinic, on the 5th floor of the Anschutz Outpatient Pavilion (AOP).

For clinic days and hours, please call (720) 777-0956. (Tyler Smith, managing editor, UCH Insider )