Current oncology reports
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Current oncology reports · Aug 2013
ReviewCancer in adolescents and young adults in countries with limited resources.
Cancer in adolescents and young adults (AYA) represents a higher fraction of all cancer in countries that are still undergoing a demographic transition. Such countries tend to have much younger populations, and therefore unless they have a particularly low incidence of cancer in this age group, will have a higher burden of cancer (absolute number of cases with cancer) in AYA. Cancers in AYA are comprised of the tail end of the incidence curve of cancers that have their peak incidence, or occur almost exclusively in childhood, the beginning of the incidence curve of cancers that primarily affect the elderly, and a third set of cancers that have their peak incidence (or are at least common) in the AYA age group (e.g., testicular cancer, sarcomas, melanoma, thyroid cancer). ⋯ Late effects are important in this young population in HIC, and protocol adaptations or design in LMIC should take into consideration the significant fraction of cured patients with late effects who were treated in HIC in an era where improving response and survival rates was the paramount consideration-the situation that applies today in less developed countries. Special adolescent units which better deal with psychological issues of young cancer patients are rare in LMIC and the psychosocial issues faced by adolescents are much less studied. Although survival is the first consideration, attention to psychosocial and financial issues may reduce existing delays in initiating therapy and also the fraction of patients that abandon therapy.