Cancer Survival Surges - Except For One Group

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 12 May 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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Over the last 20 years, there have been remarkable advances in the battle against cancer. For most patients, survival rates are now at an all-time high. That's not the case for one age group. If you're between 15 and 39, the news isn't as good.* In fact, a 25 year old who is diagnosed with cancer today often has a worse prognosis than 25 years ago.* The numbers are puzzling, but researchers are determined to do something about them.

When he's in his Jeep, Troy Green can seem invincible, able to climb almost any mountain in front of him. However, in his 30s, Troy had surgery for esophageal cancer, and began an uphill climb like he's never seen before.

"We thought we were in the clear because there was no evidence of the cancer in my lymph nodes, but on my first CT scan after surgery, they found some spots in my lungs they were concerned about," says Green.

Had he been diagnosed 20 years earlier or 20 years later, Troy's chances of survival would have been higher. But Troy is in an age group, 15-39, that has some cancer researchers baffled.

"Clearly this group is caught in the middle. Both in terms of diagnosis and prognosis, there hasn't been a lot of progress," says Mike Caliguiri, MD, with Ohio State University's James Cancer Hospital.

Dr. Caliguiri says one of the reasons patients age 15-39 don't do as well with cancer is because they're not studied as often. If you look at cancer in the lab, it's different between a 10 year old, 20 year old, or a 50 year old. The problem is young kids and older adults volunteer for research projects in large numbers. The 15-39 group doesn't, and experts say that has to change.

"Because in the end, we're going to be at the same place we were 10 years ago if we don't put this group of young people on clinical trials," says Caliguiri.

Since 1975, the number of cancer deaths in kids has been cut in half.** Overall cancer survival rates continue to climb. It's now estimated 2 out of 3 people diagnosed with cancer will live at least five years.** However, there has been virtually no change over the last 20 years for those 15-39.

*Closing the Gap: A Strategic Plan, Lance Armstrong Foundation, in conjunction with the National Cancer Institute, retrieved April 2008 at http://www.livestrong.org
**Cancer Facts & Figures 2008, American Cancer Society, retrieved April 2008 from http://www.cancer.org

Ohio State University