One in every 168 Americans develops invasive cancer between age 15 to 30 years. During this age interval, cancer is unique in the distribution of types that occur and rarely related to either environmental carcinogens, a recognizable inherited predisposition, or a family cancer syndrome. Patients in this age group have the lowest rate of health insurance coverage, frequent delays in diagnosis, and the lowest accrual to clinical trials. Their psychosocial needs are unique and generally less well attended to than in any other age group. Despite an intrinsically equal ability to tolerate chemotherapy, older adolescents and young adults frequently receive lower dose intensities than do younger patients, and at times less than in older patients. Whereas the 15‐ to 29‐year age group once had a better overall survival rate than either younger or older patients, a relative lack of progress has resulted in the majority of cancers in the age group having a worse overall survival rate than in younger patients, and several of these having a worse prognosis than in older patients. Against this background, young adults with cancer have unique survival challenges—medically, psychosocially, and economically—that are now beginning to be appreciated and addressed with a national initiative.

中文翻译：

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青年肿瘤学：患者及其生存挑战

每 168 名美国人中就有 1 人在 15 至 30 岁之间患上浸润性癌症。在这个年龄段，癌症在发生的类型分布上是独一无二的，并且很少与环境致癌物、可识别的遗传倾向或家族癌症综合征相关。这个年龄组的患者健康保险覆盖率最低，诊断经常延误，临床试验的应计费用最低。他们的社会心理需求是独一无二的，而且与其他任何年龄段的人相比，他们的关注度普遍较低。尽管耐受化疗的能力在本质上是相同的，但年龄较大的青少年和年轻人经常接受比年轻患者更低的剂量强度，有时比老年患者接受的剂量更低。虽然 15 至 29 岁年龄组的总生存率曾经比年轻或年长患者更好，但相对缺乏进展导致该年龄组中大多数癌症的总生存率低于年轻患者，其中一些预后比老年患者更差。在这种背景下，患有癌症的年轻人面临着独特的生存挑战——医学上、社会心理上和经济上——现在开始受到国家倡议的重视和解决。