Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer Continue to Face Disparities in Rate of Change in Five-Year Survival

Purpose: Cancer is a devastating disease process that affects the lives of millions around the world. A standard metric of progress, of particular interest within the discipline of cancer research is the measurement of therapeutic progress, which is commonly measured through analyses of 5-year survival statistics. While cancer therapies have come a long way, the adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patient population faces many unique obstacles such as cancer identification, proper diagnosis, adequate treatment, and continuity of care. It has been estimated that globally there are more than one million incident cases of cancer in AYAs between 15 and 39 years, and nearly 400,000 deaths due to cancer in the age group. These obstacles have led to a lack of improvement in the outcomes for AYA cancer patients of 15 to 39 years of age when compared with younger and older patient populations Methods: Large-data analysis via mathematical derivation of 5-year survival statistics from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) registries from 1975-2009. Results: The analysis yields a measurable disparity in the therapeutic improvement of the AYA cancer patient population when compared against the derivation of 5-year survival statistics for children and middle-aged or older adults within United States. Conclusions: Despite recent publications and analyses that state the contrary - more initiatives and research are needed to correct the lagging disparities and to improve the overall survival in the AYA population.