Guidelines developed for adolescents and young adults going through cancer
Peter Coccia, M.D., Ittner Professor and vice chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, is serving as chair of the Guidelines Panel for Young Adult Oncology for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). The panel recently developed "NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Caring for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA)."
Over the past year, experts in AYA oncology from all 21 NCCN member institutions have developed guidelines for medical professionals and patients with the intent of optimizing care and improving outcomes in AYA patients with cancer.
More than 70,000 young adults, ages 15 through 39, are diagnosed with cancer each year, and the survival rates for young adults have not increased since 1975, unlike the dramatic improvement seen in children and older adults.
Patients within this age group face a unique set of challenges, such as reentry into school or the workforce, insurance coverage issues, infertility resulting from treatment, neurocognitive effects, and secondary malignancies.
The NCCN guidelines are designed to provide people with cancer and the general public with state-of-the-art cancer treatment information in easy-to-understand language. To request a printed copy of these guidelines, please send an e-mail to patientguidelines@nccn.org.
The NCCN, a not-for-profit alliance of 21 of the world's leading cancer centers, is dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of care provided to patients with cancer. UNMC has been a charter member of the NCCN.