For decades, the fight against cancer has focused on two critical priorities: prevention and treatment.

Both have saved countless lives. Earlier detection, improved screening tools and remarkable advances in medicine have transformed cancer outcomes. Today, the five-year relative survival rate for all cancers combined approaches 70 percent, compared to about 49 percent in the mid-1970s.

That success has created a new challenge—and a new opportunity.

More than 18 million Americans are now living with a history of invasive cancer. For many, the question is no longer simply how to survive cancer, but how to live well after it. As survivorship continues to grow, experts are calling for a shift in how cancer care is viewed and delivered.

Prevention and treatment remain essential. But survivorship deserves equal attention as the third pillar of comprehensive cancer care.

Life after treatment often brings challenges that receive far less attention than diagnosis and treatment. Survivors may experience fatigue, neuropathy, lymphedema and cardiovascular complications related to cancer therapies. Many struggle with anxiety, depression and the uncertainty that can accompany follow-up testing. Financial burdens from treatment may continue for years, while survivors also face increased risks for secondary cancers and other chronic health conditions.

The reality is simple: treatment may end, but survivorship does not.

As survival rates continue to improve, healthcare systems, employers, insurers and communities must adapt to this new reality. Helping people survive cancer is no longer enough. We must also help them recover, rebuild and thrive.

Recognizing this growing need, communities across the country recently celebrated National Cancer Survivors Day®, an annual observance honoring those living with a history of cancer. More than a celebration, the day serves as a reminder that survivorship is a lifelong journey requiring ongoing support and attention.

In Dallas, the Lake Highlands Family YMCA partnered with Stronger Than Cancer to host a Celebration of Life event for survivors and caregivers. The program brought together healthcare professionals, researchers and survivors to discuss the evolving landscape of life after cancer.

Among the speakers were experts from UT Southwestern Medical Center who emphasized that successful cancer care extends beyond medical outcomes and must address the physical, emotional and social realities survivors face long after treatment ends.

Organizations such as the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas are helping address these needs through programs like LIVESTRONG® at the YMCA, a 12-week fitness and wellness program designed specifically for adult cancer survivors. Combining physical activity with peer support, the program recognizes that healing continues long after treatment is complete.

"This is such a vulnerable time in a person's life," says Deb Brackenridge, LIVESTRONG Coordinator for the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas. "Intentional movement can become a powerful act of self-trust."

The success of modern cancer treatment has fundamentally changed the challenge before us. For generations, the primary goal was helping people survive cancer. Today, millions do. Yet survivorship has not received the same level of attention, innovation or investment as prevention and treatment.

As prevention was the first frontier of cancer care, and treatment the second, survivorship is the third.

For more information about National Cancer Survivors Day, visit ncsd.org. To learn more about LIVESTRONG at the YMCA in Dallas-Fort Worth, visit ymcadallas.org/livestrong-ymca.