Medical and psychosocial challenges in caring for adolescent and young adult patients with cancer

摘要

Over the last five years there have been tremendous changes in the care of adolescent and young adult cancer patients in Australia, generally accepted as 15-25 years old. There has been recognition that the needs of adolescent and young adults with cancer are different from both adults and younger children, and warrant specialised services. A cancer diagnosis during this period of transition has the potential to significantly impact upon many areas of normal development including physical, psychological, social, sexual, educational and financial domains. Relatively little is known about the basic biology, genetic, epidemiologic, therapeutic and economic factors that affect incidence, disease outcomes and cancer related quality of life in this population. This paper explores the medical and psychosocial needs for these patients and summarises the recent progress of the Youth Cancer program in Australia, which has led to the development of this new subspeciality and the creation of youth cancer services.