Tim Byers, MD, MPH

Professor, University of Colorado School of Medicine

Deputy Director, University of Colorado Cancer Center

If cancer survivor plans are to constitute a standard in cancer care, many different organizations will need to collaborate to institute this new service as a medical care norm.¹ Regional organizations that currently collaborate in cancer control programs could be particularly helpful to broadly institute cancer survivor planning. The purpose of this paper is to examine this potential, and to critically assess both the capabilities and weaknesses of organizations engaged in regional cancer control activities. The term “regional” could define many different types of geopolitical units. In this review, “regional” will be considered mostly as statewide or as pertaining to subregions of a state, such as an urban area with its surrounding suburbs, or a defined rural area of a state with a regional identity. The term “regional” could also refer to areas of the country that include several states, such as the Southwest or the Midwest, but most multistate regional organizations, such as Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) regions and American Cancer Society (ACS) Divisions, have been created