In celebration of Living Proof week, Insight honors cancer survivors with daily posts about survivorship.
When Dana-Farber launched its David B. Perini, Jr. Quality of Life Clinic nearly 20 years ago, it was one of the nation’s first programs dedicated to helping childhood cancer survivors.
From the beginning, the pediatric survivorship clinic has been guided by clinic director Lisa Diller, MD, who is recognized globally for her contributions to cancer survivorship and pediatric oncology. The Perini clinic has developed resources that help survivors address issues such as the long-term effects of treatment, the risk of second cancers, and the psychological concerns of being a cancer survivor.
Diller, who also serves as chief medical officer of Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and co-director of the Institute’s Perini Family Survivors’ Center, has worked throughout her career to reduce the incidence and severity of secondary cancers in young adults who received treatment for cancer as children.
Diller and other experts at Dana-Farber today support a growing population of cancer survivors.
“Cancer survivors will tell you that that everyone thinks they’re back to normal once their hair grows back, but it can take a lot longer to get there,” Diller says. “That’s why survivorship programs are so vital, giving us a vehicle to provide patients with the follow-up care and planning they’ll need to live healthy lives.”
Perini clinic had been wonderful to me. I have been a survivor of childhood cancer for almost 35 years. I am wondering why I have never met or even heard of Lisa Diller and I have been going to the clinic for almost 10 years.