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A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Oncology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2021) | Viewed by 8264

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Dr. Olga Husson

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Division of Clinical Studies, Department of Medical Oncology and Institute of Cancer Research, Netherlands Cancer Institute, 1066 CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Interests: adolescent and young adult oncology; sarcoma; patient-report outcomes; health-related quality of life; epidemiology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients are recognized as a distinct population within the oncology community due to the unique challenges they encounter, including recognition, diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of their disease. AYAs present with a unique spectrum of cancers: either with a pediatric malignancy, with a tumor of AYA age, or with an adult tumor. About 80% of AYAs with cancer will achieve long-term cure. While cancer outcomes for children and older adults have continued to improve over the last few decades, the AYA group has lagged behind. Among the many issues identified for the lack of improvement is the exceedingly low participation rate in clinical trials. Many other factors contribute to the poorer outcome of AYA oncology patients, including differences in host and disease biology, lack of insight into risk factors, delayed diagnosis, different treatment regimens, poor compliance with and poor adherence to therapy, and unique psychosocial and economic issues related to their age at cancer diagnosis.

The focus of this Special Issue is to consider the following aspects of AYA oncology: 1) treatment and care; 2) long-term and late effects; 3) survivorship care; 4) palliative care; 5) end-of-life care; 6) Interventions.

Dr. Olga Husson
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

adolescent and young adult oncology
long-term and late effects
palliative care
survivorship
psychosocial interventions

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1173 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Prolonged Diagnostic Pathway of Young Adults (Aged 25–39) with Cancer in the United Kingdom: Results from the Young Adult Cancer Patient Journey Study

by Victorien L. M. N. Soomers, Emma Lidington, Bhawna Sirohi, Michael A. Gonzalez, Anne-Sophie Darlington, Winette T. A. van der Graaf and Olga Husson

J. Clin. Med. 2021, 10(20), 4646; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10204646 - 11 Oct 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1354

Abstract

Purpose: Teenagers and young adults (TYAs; aged 13–24) experience prolonged intervals to cancer diagnosis. Insight into diagnostic intervals in young adults (YAs; aged 25–39) and subgroups at risk for long intervals is lacking. We investigated the diagnostic pathway of YA cancer patients, examined patient and tumor characteristics associated with its length, and compared the patient interval length of our sample with a TYA cohort. Methods: In this cross-sectional survey YAs diagnosed with cancer in the UK in the past five years completed a questionnaire describing their patient (time from first symptom to first doctor consultation) and healthcare interval (from first consultation until consultation with a cancer specialist), sociodemographic, and clinical characteristics. Associations between characteristics and interval length were examined and compared with previously published data in TYAs. Results: Among 341 YAs the patient interval lasted ≥2 weeks, ≥1 month, and ≥3 months in 60%, 42%, and 21%, respectively, compared to 48%, 27%, and 12% in the TYA group. The healthcare interval lasted ≥2 weeks, ≥1 month, and ≥3 months in 62%, 40%, and 17% of YA patients, respectively. YAs with melanoma or cervical cancer were most likely to experience long intervals, whereas YAs with breast cancer and leukemia were most likely to experience short intervals. Conclusions: Most YAs were not seen by a cancer specialist within 2 weeks of GP consultation. Interval lengths in YAs were associated with cancer diagnosis. Patient intervals were longer among YAs than among TYAs. Our study highlights long diagnostic pathways among YAs and calls for more awareness among healthcare professionals about malignancies in this age group. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with Cancer)

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14 pages, 604 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Describing Unmet Supportive Care Needs among Young Adults with Cancer (25–39 Years) and the Relationship with Health-Related Quality of Life, Psychological Distress, and Illness Cognitions

by Emma Lidington, Anne-Sophie Darlington, Amy Din, Susannah Stanway, Susana Banerjee, Zoltan Szucs, Michael Gonzalez, Anand Sharma, Bhawna Sirohi, Winette T. A. van der Graaf and Olga Husson

J. Clin. Med. 2021, 10(19), 4449; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10194449 - 28 Sep 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1939

Abstract

Few studies describe supportive care needs among young adults (YAs) with cancer ages 25 to 39 using validated questionnaires. Previous findings identified the need for psychological and information support and suggest that gender, age, psychological distress, and coping may be associated with greater need for this support. To substantiate these findings, this study aimed to (1) describe the supportive care needs of YAs in each domain of the Supportive Care Needs Survey and (2) explore the relationship between unmet supportive care needs and clinical and demographic factors, health-related quality of life, psychological distress, illness cognitions, and service needs using latent class analysis. Clinical teams from six hospitals in England invited eligible patients to a cross-sectional survey by post. A total of 317 participants completed the survey online or on paper. YAs expressed the most need in the psychological and sexuality domains. Using latent class analysis, we identified three classes of YAs based on level of supportive care need: no need (53.3%), low need (28.3%), and moderate need (18.4%). In each class, median domain scores in each domain were similar. Low and moderate need classes were associated with worse health-related quality of life and greater helplessness. Unmet service needs were associated with the moderate-need class only. Patients with unmet supportive care needs should be offered holistic care across supportive care domains. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with Cancer)

14 pages, 2378 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biopsychosocial Factors Associated with Supportive Care Needs in Canadian Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors

by Steven Guirguis, Margaret Fitch, Manjula Maganti, Abha A. Gupta, Norma D’Agostino, Chana Korenblum and Jennifer M. Jones

J. Clin. Med. 2021, 10(12), 2628; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10122628 - 15 Jun 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2035

Abstract

Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) represent an overlooked population in cancer survivorship care. Identifying the needs of AYAs can guide the development of tailored programs for this population. We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive analysis to identify biopsychosocial factors associated with AYA post-treatment supportive care needs and unmet needs using data obtained from the Experiences of Cancer Patients in Transitions Study of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, in collaboration with cancer agencies in the 10 Canadian provinces. The analysis focused on data from n = 530 AYAs between the ages of 18 and 34 who had undergone treatment within the past 5 years. Respondents reported a median of two moderate to big (MTB) physical needs (out of 9) and one unmet physical need, two MTB emotional needs (out of 6) with two unmet MTB emotional needs, and one (out of 5) practical need reported and one unmet MTB practical need. We found some common associations across supportive care domains. Income (lower) and more complex treatment were associated with high needs and unmet needs across the three domains. Respondents with a family doctor who was “very involved” in their cancer care had a lower number of unmet physical and emotional needs. Identifying those at risk of supportive care needs and developing tailored pathways in which they are proactively connected with tailored and appropriate resources and programs may help to reduce the number of unmet needs and improve cancer survivors’ quality of life. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with Cancer)

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15 pages, 349 KiB

Open AccessArticle

by Suzanne E. J. Kaal, Emma K. Lidington, Judith B. Prins, Rosemarie Jansen, Eveliene Manten-Horst, Petra Servaes, Winette T. A. van der Graaf and Olga Husson

J. Clin. Med. 2021, 10(9), 1833; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10091833 - 22 Apr 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2153

Abstract

This study aimed to identify health-related quality of life (HRQoL) issues of relevance for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients, the perception of relevant HRQoL issues for AYA in generalby the health care professionals (HCP), and discrepancies between issues identified by AYAs and HCP. Dutch AYAs aged 18–35 years at the time of cancer diagnosis (N = 83) and HCPs (N = 34) involved in AYA oncology were invited to complete the Quality of Life for Cancer Survivors questionnaire. HCPs rated physical symptoms such as fatigue, appetite, pain, constipation, sleep disorders, nausea and neuropathy among AYA cancer patients significantly higher (i.e., more problems) than AYA cancer patients. AYA cancer patients rated overall physical health and quality of life, happiness, satisfaction, usefulness and support from others, all positively formulated questions, significantly higher (i.e., more positive) than HCPs. The most highly rated issues (negative and positive combined) for AYAs were: perceived support from others, distress about initial cancer diagnosis, distress for family and overall quality of life. HCPs identified distress about diagnosis, treatment, family and interference of illness with employment/study as the most problematic issues (all negative) for AYAs. Five of the ten most common issues listed by patients and HCPs were the same. Male AYAs, patients treated with curative intent and those with a partner rated positive HRQoL issues higher than their counterparts. The discrepancy between the perception of patients and HCPs illustrates the importance of patient involvement in organizing physical and psychosocial care. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with Cancer)

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