Survival Up for Multiple Cancer Types for Teens, Young Adults

MONDAY, July 26, 2021 -- For adolescents and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer diagnosed at age 15 to 39 years, there has been improvement in five-year relative survival for multiple cancer types, according to a study published online July 26 in Cancer.

Denise Riedel Lewis, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues examined the incidence, mortality, and survival for the nine cancer types with the highest mortality rates in AYAs from 1975 to 2016 using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry and the National Center for Health Statistics.

The researchers found that significant improvement was suggested in the five-year relative survival for brain and other nervous system tumors, colon and rectum cancer, lung and bronchus cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. For female breast cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, and bone and joint sarcomas, there was limited or no improvement.

"Our examination of survival trends among AYAs diagnosed with cancer in the United States shows progress in some cancer types. Explanations for progress in individual cancers include new prevention options; advances in diagnosis and treatment; and containment of risk factors, including HIV/AIDS and human papillomavirus," the authors write. "Our findings underscore the need for additional research to understand cancers showing poorer progress."

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Posted July 2021