Young Survivors

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At this point, researchers have a good picture of what young patients can expect in the first decade after cancer treatment. But "what we don't know is what happens to people as they age further out, 20 to 30 years beyond that," says Dr. Charles Sklar of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. To fill that gap, Hudson and St. Jude epidemiologist Les Robison are launching one of the most ambitious follow-up programs yet. They plan to contact 5,000 patients who have celebrated their 10-year survival anniversary and invite them to come back for free checkups for the rest of their lives. The program, like the hospital, is mainly supported by private donations. The first 650 volunteers are expected to inaugurate the St. Jude Life Project this month. They will undergo blood tests to evaluate kidney, liver, thyroid and immune function; MRI scans to look for abnormal growths; and, depending on the type of treatments they received, consultations with fertility and other specialists.

The push for more thorough aftercare screening is already helping survivors who are wrestling with a lot of unknowns about their health. "In my head, I had been expecting to have all the problems you read about--the heart problems, secondary cancers--all that stuff," says Dyer. But a recent evaluation at Sloan-Kettering indicated that Dyer so far shows no signs of the complications she had dreaded. "It was a huge relief," she says. So this Aug. 27, she will celebrate another year of being not only cancer-free but also healthy. Three years ago, to honor a decade of cancer liberation, Dyer went skydiving. "I just felt a sense of exhilaration, of really living life and not wasting moments by being afraid or questioning myself," she says. By helping scientists learn from her cancer, Dyer may inspire more survivors in coming years to do the same.