Teenage and Young Adult Cancer
Teenagers and young adults (TYA) aged 13 – 24 years old who develop a cancer, are said to inhabit a unique "no-man’s land" placed between the healthcare systems mainly centred around children (paediatric oncology) or adults.
The conditions that this group of young people develop are often different to those of adults or children. Their physical, psychological and social responses to these life-threatening diagnoses are different, and the outcomes from the same malignancies are distinct; in some settings they have poorer survival than somewhat older adults and in some settings better outcomes.
We know that TYA with cancer are less likely be involved in research than children, and that the specific aspects of the cancers they develop and the way common drugs are handled by their bodies is less well understood than for children or older adults.
To encourage more research, which is focussed on the priorities set by TYA with cancer, the clinicians that work with them and the academic teams that research these areas, three charities have combined to fund a PSP. These are Teenage Cancer Trust, Children with Cancer UK and CLIC Sargent.
The PSP's initial survey opened at the beginning of October 2016.
The Teenage and Young Adult Cancer PSP published its Top 10 in January 2018.