UCI-Led Research Team Identifies Unmet Needs in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Patients and Survivors in Southern California

In a recent study published in the Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, a UCI-led research team identified unmet needs, barriers, and facilitators in cancer survivorship research for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients ages 15-39 years old in the Southern California region.

“Adolescent and young adult cancer patients who have received a cancer diagnosis are in need of a significant level of survivorship care due the large combination of practical, physical and mental health issues that they face,” says Alexandre Chan, corresponding author, professor and chair at the UCI School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, “Unfortunately research in these areas is scarce.”

The research team interviewed healthcare providers of AYA cancer patients from large centers belonging to the Southern California Pediatric and Adolescent Cancer Survivorship consortium and identified several important themes regarding unmet needs, barriers, and facilitators including:

• Limited institutional resources, support, and funding for AYAC survivorship studies.
• A need for improved communication and collaboration between pediatric and adult health care providers.
• Additional support needed for AYA cancer patients to manage mental health issues and school/occupational performance.

These findings establish areas of unmet needs and priorities in AYAC survivorship care.

“These findings will allow us to focus our attention more to where improvements are needed,” says Chan. “We need more survivorship studies to improve the management of post-treatment complications in AYA cancer survivors to ensure they receive the best possible health care.”

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The research team included Reem Nasr and Steffi Hsu, pharmaceutical sciences undergraduate students at UCI, Quinton Ng, pharmaceutical sciences PhD student at UCI, and the following partners:

• City of Hope, Duarte, California
• Cedars-Sinai Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Los Angeles, California
• Cancer and Blood Disease Institute, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, California
• Hyundai Cancer Institute at Children’s Healthcare of Orange County, Orange, California
• Rady Children’s Hospital—San Diego, California
• University of California, San Diego
• University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California