Journal of pediatric hematology/oncology
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J. Pediatr. Hematol. Oncol. · Dec 2009
Comparative StudyA comparison of clinical trial enrollment between adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology patients treated at affiliated adult and pediatric oncology centers.
Over the past 30 years, there has been a dramatic increase in the survival rates of younger pediatric cancer patients in contrast to adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology patients. The reasons for this discrepancy are multifactorial, but it is clear that clinical trial enrollment correlates with better outcomes. ⋯ Our data demonstrate that clinical trial enrollment was superior when AYA patients were treated at a pediatric cancer center. As most AYA patients are not treated at pediatric centers, this may partly explain why their cure rates have not improved as significantly as younger pediatric oncology patients.