The AYA Cancer Survival Gap
It has been found that over the past 30 years, survival rates for children and older adults have improved substantially while the survival rates for the adolescent and young adult age group have, unfortunately, not experienced the same kind of improvements. Survival rates for the AYA age group have seen little to no improvement. The Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Survival Gap is the term used to describe this lack of improvement in this particular age group as opposed to other age groups.
There is a lot of speculation as to what the cause of this widening gap may be. Some of the theoretical causes include, but are not limited to: lack of funding for research based solely on this specific age group, lack of awareness even within the medical community of the large gap in survival rates, and lack of participation in clinical trials.
The main issue these young people are facing is that there has been little advances in care for their specific age group. The adolescents and young adults in this gap, not only have much lower survival rates than those of younger and older patients with the same types of cancer, but they also have little resources designed specifically for their unique emotional and physical needs.
The National Cancer Institute and the Lance Armstrong Foundation within recent years have banded together to try and help close the gap by bringing awareness to our government and medical professionals and providing funds for research. Smaller foundations, including the LiveLovely Foundation, have also taken notice and are trying to help close the gap. However, improvements are still being awaited and many people, even within the medical profession are unaware of this widening gap. In order to close the gap, the general public must take notice and begin advocacy to help close the gap..
To obtain more information on the adolescent and young adult cancer survival gap and how you can help:
www.cancer.gov
http://www.livestrong.org/site/c.khLXK1PxHmF/b.2661399/k.71A4/Young_Adult_Alliance.htm
www.livelovely.org
Published by Laken Lovely
Laken Lovely is a freelance writer and focuses much of her time on her position as the director of the LiveLovely Foundation, to help raise funds and awareness for childhood cancers and the adolescent and yo... View profile
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