Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with some forms of cancer saw a significant improvement in 5-year survival rates from 1975-2005, but not all cancers saw an improvement, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.1
In particular, AYAs with leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, central nervous system tumors, melanoma and other skin cancers, breast cancer or kidney cancer experienced these improvements, while those with bone tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, bladder cancer, cervical and uterine cancers, or colorectal cancer, did not.
“We are making improvements in survival for adolescents and young adults with cancer over time, but adolescents and young adults are a heterogeneous group, and we have to make sure that overall improvements don’t hide the fact that there are specific cancer types that haven’t had equivalent advances,…