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Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology

Issues in Oncology

Overcoming the Challenges of Treating Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer Living in Rural Communities

Jo Cavallo  /  October 25, 2023

It is widely acknowledged that patients with cancer living in rural areas of the United States face limited access to medical and oncology providers, often have to travel long distances to receive care, and experience obstacles in clinical trial participation—all of which affect quality of care and ...

Issues in Oncology

How to Advance Antiracist Approaches to Patient Engagement in AYA Oncology and Research

Jo Cavallo  /  November 10, 2022

Among the topics discussed at the 4th Global Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Congress held online in December 2021 was the urgent need for clinicians, researchers, and advocates in adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology to join forces to eradicate racist approaches to patient engagement in rese...

Breast Cancer

Why Are Young Adult Women Developing Later-Stage, More Aggressive Breast Cancer Than Older Women?

Jo Cavallo  /  October 25, 2022

It has been well documented that breast cancer is the most common malignancy in adolescent and young adult (AYA) women aged 15 to 39 years, accounting for 30% of cancers among this population.1 In addition, 5.6% of all invasive breast cancers occur in AYA women.1 A presentation by Rebecca H. Johnson...

Issues in Oncology
Survivorship

Centralizing Care for Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer to Improve Long-Term Survivorship

Jo Cavallo  /  February 25, 2022

This past fall, Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center in New York expanded its adolescent and young adult (AYA) program with the establishment of the Lisa and Scott Stuart Center for Adolescent and Young Adult Cancers. The Stuart Center is now part of the increasing list of about 50 academic ...

Survivorship

Achieving Equity in Cancer Care for Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer

Jo Cavallo  /  November 25, 2021

Although cancer in adolescents and young adults (AYAs), defined by the National Cancer Institute as those between the ages of 15 and 39, is relatively rare—in 2020 nearly 90,000 AYAs were diagnosed with cancer and about 9,300 died of the disease1—and 5-year relative survival rates are high, between ...

Issues in Oncology

Overcoming the Disparities in Cancer Survival Among AYA Minority Patients

Jo Cavallo  /  September 25, 2021

Although the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has identified adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer as a distinct patient population from children and older adults with the disease, research into the diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship specific to this patient population has not kept pace...

Supportive Care

How to Talk With Teens and Young Adults About Their End-of-Life Goals

Jo Cavallo  /  June 25, 2021

Although death rates for adolescent and young adults (AYAs) with cancer have been dropping 0.8% a year from 2009 to 2018, cancer remains a leading disease-related cause of death among this patient population. This year, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that 88,260 AYAs, defined by the N...

Issues in Oncology

Understanding the Uniqueness of Cancer and Survival in Adolescents and Young Adults

Jo Cavallo  /  November 25, 2020

Numerous studies over the past 4 decades have chronicled the lack of progress in improved outcomes for adolescents and young adults (AYAs)—defined by the National Cancer Institute as those ranging in age from 15 to 39—diagnosed with cancer compared with children and older adults diagnosed with the d...

Issues in Oncology
Colorectal Cancer

Solving the Mystery of Why Colorectal Cancer Is on the Rise in Young Adults

Jo Cavallo  /  June 25, 2019

Excluding skin cancer, colorectal cancer is the third most prevalent and lethal cancer among both men and women in the United States.1 Although the risk of developing colorectal cancer increases with age—more than 90% of cases occur in people aged 50 or older2—recent research shows that the incidenc...

A New Website Offers Support for Adolescent and Young Adults With Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jo Cavallo  /  July 10, 2020

Although the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with cancer is still being evaluated, data from several studies show that in comparison with people who do not have cancer, those who do generally experience a higher risk of severe events including admittance to the intensive care unit, ...

Issues in Oncology
Survivorship

How Exercise Oncology Can Improve Cancer Outcome and Survivorship

Jo Cavallo  /  March 25, 2020

Researchers from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recently reviewed hundreds of epidemiologic studies on the link between physical activity and both cancer risk and cancer mortality. A subsequent analysis of the findings by a panel of experts representing 17 partner organizations, incl...

Issues in Oncology
Cost of Care
Survivorship

How Cancer Affects Adolescents and Young Adults

Jo Cavallo  /  May 25, 2019

The statistics are alarming: according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), about 70,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) are diagnosed with cancer each year1—a recent report by the University of California put that figure at 87,000.2 Although overall cancer survival rates continue to improve ...

Issues in Oncology

Closing the Gap in Oncology Care for Adolescents and Young Adults

Jo Cavallo  /  May 25, 2018

During her presentation “Adolescent and Young Adult Survivorship: What Do We Still Need to Know?” at the 2017 Cancer Survivorship Symposium: Advancing Care and Research, Emily S. Tonorezos, MD, MPH, a general internist in the Adult Long-Term Follow-Up Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Cen...

Survivorship

Experts Seek to Explain the Survival Gap in Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer

Jo Cavallo  /  June 15, 2011

While overall cancer survival rates continue to rise-there are nearly 12 million cancer survivors today, according to the latest figures from NCI-most of that improvement is among pediatric and older adult patients. For adolescent and young adult patients with cancer, defined by the NCI as those in ...

Survivorship

A Conversation with Brad Zebrack, PhD, MSW, MPH

Jo Cavallo  /  June 15, 2011

Each year in the United States, approximately 70,000 people between the ages of 15 and 40 are diagnosed with cancer. And while getting a cancer diagnosis at any age can be devastating, for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) grappling with sexuality, body image, peer pressure, dating, marriage, fami...

Issues in Oncology

Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer: A Distinct Population of Patients Who Need to Be Treated Differently

Charlotte Bath  /  March 15, 2012

In the News focuses on media reports that your patients may have questions about at their next visit. This continuing column will provide summaries of articles in the popular press that may prompt such questions, as well as comments from colleagues in the field. Cancer among adolescents and young a...

Issues in Oncology

NCCN Announces New Guidelines for Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology

The ASCO Post  /  April 15, 2012

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) announced that it has issued new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Oncology.1 Adolescent and young adult patients are defined in the guidelines as individuals 15 to 39 years of age at initial cancer dia...

Breast Cancer
Kidney Cancer
Lung Cancer
Skin Cancer
Leukemia
Lymphoma
Issues in Oncology

NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines: Important Updates for 2012

Caroline Helwick  /  May 1, 2012

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology have become the most widely used guidelines in oncology practice. The Guidelines cover 97% of all patients with cancer and are continually updated by expert panels. The 2012 Guidelines include some completely ...

Supportive Care

Adolescent and Young Adult Patients Report Unmet Needs for Cancer Information and Psychosocial Support Services

Charlotte Bath  /  September 1, 2012

In the News focuses on media reports that your patients may have questions about at their next visit. This continuing column will provide summaries of articles in the popular press that may prompt such questions, as well as comments from colleagues in the field. Psychosocial care needs are not bein...

Issues in Oncology

Teens and Young Adults with Cancer Want a Voice in End-of-life Care

Jo Cavallo  /  January 15, 2013

A top the list of concerns of adolescents and young adults with a life-threatening cancer are these two considerations: being able to choose the kind of medical treatment they want (or do not want) and expressing their wishes to family and friends about how they want to be remembered, according to a...

Issues in Oncology

New England Journal of Medicine Article Reports Inferior Outcome in Using Alternative Treatments to Counter Mechlorethamine Shortage

ASCO  /  February 1, 2013

ASCO Immediate Past President Michael P. Link, MD, recently coauthored a perspectives piece in The New England Journal of Medicine on the impact of drug shortages on children with cancer. The paper, “The Impact of Drug Shortages on Children with Cancer — The Example of Mechlorethamine,” describes t...

Health-Care Policy

Health Insurance Issues for Young Cancer Survivors

ASCO  /  February 1, 2013

The latest addition to Cancer.Net’s video series for young adults, Moving Forward: Perspectives from Survivors and Doctors, deals with the health insurance issues young adult cancer survivors may face. This video series is a collaboration between Cancer.Net and LIVESTRONG. Each set of videos in the ...

Leukemia

Patients Receiving Higher-intensity Chemotherapy for ALL Are at Greater Risk for Cognitive Deficits, Researchers Report 

Charlotte Bath  /  February 1, 2013

Omitting cranial irradiation from the treatment regimen for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may help preserve global cognitive abilities. “Treatment with chemotherapy alone is not without risks,” however, noted researchers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. “The St. Jude Total...

Leukemia

Daunorubicin-free Induction Therapy for Standard-risk Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia 

Alice Goodman  /  February 15, 2013

Omitting daunorubicin from induction therapy for children with standard-risk acute B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) does not compromise survival and at the same time reduces the risk of associated toxicities, including myelosuppression and cardiac damage, according to results of the large phase I...

Cost of Care
Survivorship

Study Finds Young Cancer Survivors Often Skip Checkups

Jo Cavallo  /  March 1, 2013

Athough the majority of the more than 69,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) diagnosed with cancer each year will survive their disease, many of them will experience interruptions in their education and a derailment in their career tract, curtailing their lifetime earning potential and reducing ...

Issues in Oncology

NCI Guide Helps Providers Get Adolescent and Young Adult Patients Involved in End-of-life Care 

Keegan Bales  /  April 15, 2013

Enabling adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients to become involved in advance care planning can help parents and health-care agents make informed decisions, alleviate distress, and possibly improve the patients’ quality of life, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute’s Pediatri...

Issues in Oncology

New NCCN Guidelines for Patients Available for Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer

The ASCO Post  /  April 15, 2013

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), with support from the NCCN Foundation and the LIVESTRONG Foundation and through collaboration with Critical Mass: The Young Adult Cancer Alliance (Critical Mass), recently announced the availability of the NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Caring for Ado...

Survivorship

Sexual Health after Cancer: Communicating with Your Patients 

Jo Cavallo  /  April 15, 2013

Studies show virtually all cancer survivors will experience some form of sexual dysfunction following a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Yet few cancer survivors seek help for physical problems they may be experiencing, such as vaginal dryness, dyspareunia, chemically induced menopause, reduced libid...

Survivorship

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Survivorship Program to Lead New Study on Cancer In Young Adults

The ASCO Post  /  May 1, 2013

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Survivorship Program and its Directors, K. Scott Baker, MD, and Karen Syrjala, PhD, have been selected to lead a nationwide study that aims to improve long-term health outcomes for cancer survivors between the ages of 18 and 39 years. Underway this spring,...

NCCN Patient Guidelines for Adolescents and Young Adults 

Caroline Helwick  /  May 15, 2013

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has issued new NCCN Guidelines for Patients, titled “Caring for Adolescents and Young Adults [AYA].” These guidelines fill an unmet need in oncology, as Peter F. Coccia, MD, Chair of the NCCN Guidelines Panel for Young Adult Oncology and a member of t...

Hematologic Malignancies
Leukemia

Postinduction Dexamethasone and Individualized Dosing of Asparaginase Improve Outcome in Pediatric ALL 

Matthew Stenger  /  June 10, 2013

Findings from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ALL Consortium Protocol 00-01, recently reported by Lynda M. Vrooman, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues in Journal of Clinical Oncology, indicate that postinduction dexamethasone and individualized dosing of Escherichia coli–derived L-asp...

Issues in Oncology

Strength of Patient-Oncologist Alliance Linked to Willingness to Adhere to Treatment in Young Adults 

Charlotte Bath  /  June 25, 2013

Among young adults with advanced cancer, developing a strong alliance with their oncologist was associated with greater perceived social support, a greater willingness to adhere to treatment, and greater adherence to oral medication, according to results of a study published in the Journal of Clinic...

Solid Tumors

Denosumab in Adults and Skeletally Mature Adolescents with Giant Cell Tumor of Bone 

Matthew Stenger  /  July 25, 2013

In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. Indication On June 13, 2013, denosumab (Xgeva) was approved for th...

Survivorship

More Than 98% of Childhood Cancer Survivors Have Chronic Health Conditions 

Charlotte Bath  /  July 25, 2013

More than 98% of adult survivors of childhood cancer in a large clinically evaluated cohort had a chronic health condition, including a substantial number of previously undiagnosed problems that are more likely to occur in an older population. “These findings underscore the importance of ongoing hea...

Issues in Oncology

Adolescents, Young Adults with Cancer Often Challenged By Unmet Needs Following Treatment 

Margot J. Fromer  /  August 15, 2013

About 70,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) between the ages of 15 and 39 are diagnosed with cancer each year, and in the past 30 years, there has been little or no improvement in survival in this population. In addition to the disease itself, they face many other challenges: reentry into schoo...

Issues in Oncology

Study Evaluates Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Young Adults with Cancer

The ASCO Post  /  August 15, 2013

Researchers at the University of Michigan recently reported that young adults with cancer should try to stay occupied with school, work, and other usual activities during the year after their cancer diagnosis to become less vulnerable to post-traumatic stress symptoms. The study was recently reporte...

Survivorship

Ongoing Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Adolescent and Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer

Jo Cavallo  /  April 15, 2014

ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT CHILDHOOD CANCER SURVIVORS Study Type: Randomized/interventional Study Title: A Randomized Web-Based Physical Activity Intervention in Adolescent Survivors of Childhood Cancer Study Sponsor and Collaborators: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Purpose: Five-year...

Issues in Oncology

Electronic Cigarette Use and Smoking Among Adolescents

The ASCO Post  /  April 15, 2014

Use of e-cigarettes does not discourage, and may encourage, conventional cigarette use among U.S. adolescents.” This was the conclusion of a cross-sectional analysis of survey data from a representative sample of middle and high school students who completed the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) ...

Supportive Care

Helping Young Adults Cope With Cancer

Jo Cavallo  /  June 10, 2014

For young adults diagnosed with cancer, coping with the aftermath of the disease can be especially daunting. Although all cancer survivors share some common concerns and distress, for young adults grappling with body image, sexuality, peer pressure, dating, marriage, family planning, education, and ...

Colorectal Cancer

Incidence of Colorectal Cancer in Young Adults Expected to Rise

The ASCO Post  /  November 15, 2014

While the incidence of colorectal cancer in people 50 years or older has declined, the incidence among people 20 to 49 years has increased, according to a report published online recently by JAMA Surgery.1 From 1998 through 2006, the incidence of colorectal cancer declined 3% per year in men and 2.4...

Issues in Oncology

Young Adults With Cancer: Unique Issues Highlight Importance of Patient-Centered Care

Caroline McNeil  /  November 15, 2014

Suleika Jaouad, a journalist, was 22 and had just gotten her first chance to cover a major news story—the revolution underway in Tunisia—when she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome that had evolved into acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Months into her treatment, she began to write again, but ...

Helping Adolescents and Young Adults Cope With Cancer

Jo Cavallo  /  December 1, 2014

Each year, about 70,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) are diagnosed with cancer in the United States, almost six times the number of cases diagnosed in children up to 14 years of age. While overall cancer survival rates continue to rise—according to the American Cancer Society, there are curre...

Hematologic Malignancies
Solid Tumors

Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Children and Young Adults With Cancer

Jo Cavallo  /  January 25, 2015

The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies of children and young adult cancer survivors. The studies include phase I, I/II, III, observational, and interventional trials investigating genomic profiling to personalize treatment; ph...

Leukemia

Victory for Pediatric Regimens in Adolescents and Young Adults With ALL

Alice Goodman  /  January 25, 2015

Long in the works, early results of the U.S. Intergroup C10403 trial clearly showed that treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in adolescents and young adults using a pediatric-inspired regimen improves event-free survival and overall survival and should be the backbone for future studies in t...

Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal Cancer Is Significantly Increasing Among Younger Adults and Being Diagnosed at Later Stages

Charlotte Bath  /  April 10, 2015

A growing body of literature indicates that the incidence of colorectal cancer is rising among people under age 50, according to Jason A. Zell, DO, MPH. Dr. Zell is the corresponding author of one of the two recent studies finding significant increases in colorectal cancer among adults aged 20 to 49...

Issues in Oncology

Taking the Trauma Out of Cancer Care for Children and Adolescents

Beth Howard  /  May 25, 2015

Getting a cancer diagnosis and going through treatment are difficult for patients of any age, but the experience can be especially traumatizing for the nearly 16,000 infants, children, and adolescents diagnosed each year with cancer,1 especially during the early days of treatment. Young cancer patie...

Survivorship

Survivors of Childhood Cancer Living Longer, Largely Due to Treatment Improvements

Caroline Helwick  /  July 10, 2015

Survivors of childhood cancers can expect longer lives than their peers of 30 years ago. Improvements in the care of children with cancer have reduced the long-term mortality rate, according to an analysis of 34,000 participants in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.1 Cumulative all-cause late mor...

Palliative Care

The Importance of Including Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer in Their Advance Care Planning

Jo Cavallo  /  August 10, 2015

Three years ago, a study of adolescents and young adults aged 16 to 28 with metastatic or recurrent cancer or HIV/AIDS compared the usefulness of two previously developed advance care planning guides—one prepared specifically for adolescents and young adults and one specifically for adults. The stud...

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Is a Founding Member of the New Pediatric Preclinical Testing Consortium

The ASCO Post  /  October 10, 2015

Addressing the relatively small number of new cancer drugs for children, a selective group of leading research centers is joining a new federally funded research consortium aimed at bringing scientific rigor and a concentrated effort to identifying new drug candidates for pediatric clinical trials. ...

Issues in Oncology

Bridging the Gap Between Pediatric and Adult Oncology Care

Jo Cavallo  /  October 10, 2015

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), about 70,000 adolescents and young adults—defined by the NCI as those in the 15- to 39-year-old range—are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States, about six times the number of cases diagnosed in children aged 0 to 14.1 And, although ove...

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