I'm Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation :: The Voice Of Young Adults

STATS & FACTS

(1) Each year, nearly 70,000 young adults(YA), aged 15-39, are diagnosed with cancer and roughly 10,000 will die due to the disease..º

(2) Over the past 30 years, young adults (15-39) have seen the greatest increase in cancer incidence than any other age group.¹

(3) The 5-year survival rates in YA has not improved over the past 30 years on par with other age groups..¹

(4) Why? Three reasons: delayed diagnosis, access to clinical trials and age-appropriate peer support that contributes to quality of life.º (Note that none of these reasons have anything to do with cancer research so helping YA doesn't necessarily mean white labcoats.)

(5) The #1 social issue faced by YA is isolation.

(6) Psychosocial research (quality-of-life) is tantamount to biological (clinical) research and the notion of survivorship vs 'cure'.²

(7) The entire medical community and cancer continuum at large is grossly uneducated as to how to effectively communicate with, diagnose, treat, support and follow-up with YA.

(8) Actual cancer 'research' in YA (all cancers) is different than cancer research in children and older adults. Donating your money to 'cancer research' today does not mean it will help young adults unless it specifically says so or if you specifically ask. Only a very small handful of young adult cancer research projects currently exist.

MORE STATS

(1) 1 in 50 Americans is between 18 and 40.²
(2) 1 in 50 Americans (18-40) is a cancer survivor. (est.)
(3) There are approximately 16 million Americans in college.²
(4) 1 in 100 college students is a cancer survivor. (est.)

Big box cancer organizations do not currently fund YA cancer research or support the most basic of social services to the YA support community of organizations like this one. If these statistics make you want to puke and you truly want to start helping this new generation of cancer survivors, give to the groups without middlemen, where you know where your dollar goes and there is measured impact. Don't get lost in a sea of 10,000 people racing for cures.

º source: NCI SEER Data, 2005
¹ source: NCI 'Closing The Gap', 2006
² source: IOM 'Cancer Care For The Whole Patient', 2007
³ source: US Census, 2007

Feeling isolated? The channels below will connect you with hundreds of age-appropriate resources and open the door to socially network with countless thousands of young adult survivors and caregivers.

young adult support

general cancer support

scholarships & financial aid

excursions & retreats

forums & chat rooms

social networking

young adult blogosphere

coping literature

books, mags, films and media

advocacy tools

cancer creative

HEY NURSES, SOCIAL WORKERS AND PROVIDERS!

i[2]y literature and promotional materials currently provide inpatient support to AYA patients at 600+ cancer centers around the world. Are we at your clinic yet? If not, please ask us to ship you our gear!