More than three quarters of children with cancer survive into adulthood, but cure is not the end of their journey. At least 60% have substantial morbidities as a result of their curative treatment. Most adults who survive cancer are discharged from active follow-up at five years, but historically children have been followed up for life; this is becoming unsustainable. A review published in the BMJ more than five years ago explored strategies for follow-up of children who have survived cancer.1 Has anything changed since then?

Two large epidemiological studies—one in the United States and the other in the United Kingdom—have since been published.2 3 More than 10 000 survivors in 26 centres participated in the US study, which found that 62% of survivors have some late effects of treatment (common terminology criteria for adverse events (version 3) grade 1-5), with 27% having severe or life threatening conditions (grade 3-5).4 Data …