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Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Portal Launched

From the NCI Cancer bulletin (www.cancer.gov):

Image: NCI

NCI has launched a new Web portal that provides a single access point to information for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients aged 15 to 39. About 70,000 AYAs are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in this age group. Yet, substantially less attention has been given to young adults with cancer than to children and older adults, and improvement in the survival rate of young adults has not kept pace with that achieved in other patient groups. Reasons for this lack of progress include issues specific to this age group: differences in biology or intolerance of therapy, delay in diagnosis, physicians unfamiliar with the disease, a lack of both available clinical trials and access to these trials, and, often, the psychosocial condition of the patient. Additionally, AYA patients often have special concerns that differ from those of older cancer patients, such as preserving fertility, being able to obtain health insurance and access health care following a cancer diagnosis, and feeling isolated because of a lack of peers who can relate to fighting cancer at their age.

The portal was developed in response to a report by the Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Progress Review Group (PRG). This PRG, a collaborative effort between NCI and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, was followed by Closing the Gap: A Strategic Plan, developed to address recommendations in the PRG report. The AYA cancer portal is designed to reach newly diagnosed AYA patients with evidence-based information that will help them learn more about their treatment options and participate in treatment-related decisions, explore clinical trial options, get emotional/coping support, and learn about organizations that provide information and support to AYAs.

We are excited to announce that the Oncofertility Consortium’s patient-facing website, www.myoncofertility.org, is featured as a prominent resource on the portal, linking young cancer patients with the information they need to best navigate the difficult fertility preservation decisions that they face when confronting a cancer diagnosis

The portal can be accessed at http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/aya.

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