open access: Children and young adults with parents with cancer: a population-based study

Children and young adults with parents with cancer: a population-based study

Background: 
Today many people are choosing to have children later in life. Additionally, the use of sophisticated diagnostic tools and screening modalities has increased over recent years. Because of these factors, cancer is being diagnosed more frequently during the child-rearing years. Sociodemographic and cancer-related information on families and minor (0–18 years) and young adult (YA) (19–25 years) children experiencing parental cancer is scarce, but this information is vital for healthcare initiatives aimed toward those potentially adversely affected. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe features of families and minor and YA children affected by parental cancer in a nationwide population.
  
Conclusion: 
Adequate assistance for minor and YA children affected by parental cancer requires knowledge of their number and characteristics. Parental cancer is more common than previously suggested: the annual incidence of parental cancer for children under 18 years of age is 0.3%, whereas approximately 4% of children aged 0–25 years have or have had parents diagnosed with cancer, corresponding to a population prevalence of 1.4%. Around 20% of these children experience parental death, and surveys of live respondents should account for this.

UK survey - young adults - : When do life crises strike? Help us find out (online 20 min survey)

 When do life crises strike? Help us find out

17:45 7 February 2012

Being Human

Health

Jessica Griggs, careers editor

Psychologist Dan Levinson once remarked that he had never met anyone who had not gone through at least one major crisis during their adult life.
While films, sports-car cliches and personal experience may back up his comment, the questions of when and for whom crises occur have received little academic attention. Well, not for much longer.

Last year, New Scientist reported on the phenomenon of the quarter-life crisis; the re-evaluation and dramatic change of direction that sometimes occurs during early adulthood.

This was based on research carried out by researchers at the University of Greenwich who interviewed 50 young people about their emotional experiences during this time. The work established that the quarter-life crisis exists (as corroborated by the comments on our news story) but the sample wasn't large enough to determine how common it is or when it occurs.

Now, the innermost secrets of the crisis are to be laid bare. The Greenwich team are conducting an online survey of British adults which will probe the link between crisis episodes, age and life stage across a diverse group of adults.

The researchers are looking for adult volunteers to participate in the study. You can take part here (and be in with the chance of winning a cash prize for your efforts).

Stay tuned as New Scientist will exclusively report the findings later this year.
                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What does it involve and how long does it take?

The online questionnaire will involve approximately 20 minutes of your time.

You will be asked for the following information:
-    Age, job, income, marital status and number of children.
-    Crisis episodes and turning points in your adult life (if you are currently aged 25 or above)
-    Your marital satisfaction (if you are married)
-    Your sense of happiness, life satisfaction and wellbeing
-    Your sense of empathy

Who can participate?
In order to participate, you must be age 20 or over, have lived in the UK for the majority of your life since the age of 15 and be able to read and write English fluently.

Adolescents And Young Adults: Bringing A Neglected Group Into Cancer Research – Health Affairs Blog (ages 7-18rs)

“A child is not a small adult,” but an adolescent is not a large child...."

"Consent and Assent in Children and AYA Cancer Patients
For most IRBs, informed consent can be granted by any prospective human subject over the age of 18.  For minor patients under 7, consent is granted by the parents or guardians.  What to do with patients between the ages of 7 and 18 (or with “intellectual ages” between 7 and 18) is less clear.  While they are still minors and under the care of their parents or guardians, they are also independent human beings capable of judgments, particularly ones with which their parents or guardians may not agree. This is certainly the case when it comes to choosing their friends, making time for school work, selecting extracurricular activities, carefully operating a motor vehicle and experimenting with alcohol, drugs or sex....."

Clinical Care Options - Oncology CME - The Right Care for the Younger Patient: Meeting the Needs of Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

• Describe the physical and psychosocial challenges facing the AYA cancer patient
• Suggest the most suitable treatment strategy for individual AYA patients with cancer based on current evidence
• Apply current evidence to select treatment centers (adult or pediatric) that optimize treatment for AYA patients

TEDMED: video - pediatric vs adult oncologists & survival rates 15-30 year old cancer patients

About this Talk

Bart Kamen talks about why their is a large disparity between pediatric and adult oncologists when it comes to the survival rate of 15-30 year-olds with various cancers .

Editorial (free access): A New Journal to Improve Care for Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Patients and Survivors

"This is an exciting time for the rapidly emerging field of
adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology. The AYAO
discipline arose from the growing recognition that adolescent
and young adult-aged patients and survivors are not just ‘old’
pediatric patients or ‘young’ adult patients. AYAs experience
cancer treatment and survivorship-related issues differently
from older or younger patients and often have concerns unique
to their age range. A number of research studies and
reports and the views of professional organizations and
individuals, governments and universities, patients and survivors,
families and friends, all add up to one increasingly
hard-to-ignore truth: AYA cancer patients and survivors
deserve better care....."

new journal - Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology - NOT an open access publisher ($$$)

2011 Personal
	Print-and-online - USA	$278.00
	Print-and-online - Outside USA	$320.00
	Online only	$250.00

2011 Institutional - Single Site
	Print-and-online - USA	$695.00
	Print-and-online - Outside USA	$799.00
	Online only	$660.00

4th Annual OMG! Cancer Summit For Young Adults NYC Apr 16-17th

abstract: Pregnancy after adolescent and adult cancer: A population-based matched cohort study

"In summary, fertility-preserving attempts have succeeded in patients with ovarian or testicular cancer and in males with Hodgkin lymphoma."

ASCO Expert Corner: Young Adults With Cancer Q & A (+ most common types of cancers in YA)

Q: What are the most common types of cancer that are diagnosed in young adults?
A: Among young adults (defined here as those ages 15 to 39), the ten most common types of cancer, in order of frequency, are breast cancer, lymphoma (non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin), melanoma, sarcoma, gynecologic cancers of the ovary and cervix, thyroid cancer, testicular cancer, colorectal cancer, leukemia, and brain tumors. These types account for 90% of the cancers in this age group.

EvidenceUpdates: Cochrane Collaboration review: Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults including professional commentaries and warning

CONCLUSIONS: Influenza vaccines have a modest effect in reducing influenza symptoms and working days lost. There is no evidence that they affect complications, such as pneumonia, or transmission.

WARNING: This review includes 15 out of 36 trials funded by industry (four had no funding declaration). An earlier systematic review of 274 influenza vaccine studies published up to 2007 found industry funded studies were published in more prestigious journals and cited more than other studies independently from methodological quality and size. Studies funded from public sources were significantly less likely to report conclusions favorable to the vaccines. The review showed that reliable evidence on influenza vaccines is thin but there is evidence of widespread manipulation of conclusions and spurious notoriety of the studies. The content and conclusions of this review should be interpreted in light of this finding.

Also: link to the Cochrane Collaboration review (The Cochrane Library):

Background
Different types of influenza vaccines are currently produced worldwide. Healthy adults are presently targeted mainly in North America.

Objectives
Identify, retrieve and assess all studies evaluating the effects of vaccines against influenza in healthy adults

Authors' conclusions
Influenza vaccines have a modest effect in reducing influenza symptoms and working days lost. There is no evidence that they affect complications, such as pneumonia, or transmission.

WARNING:

This review includes 15 out of 36 trials funded by industry (four had no funding declaration). An earlier systematic review of 274 influenza vaccine studies published up to 2007 found industry funded studies were published in more prestigious journals and cited more than other studies independently from methodological quality and size. Studies funded from public sources were significantly less likely to report conclusions favorable to the vaccines. The review showed that reliable evidence on influenza vaccines is thin but there is evidence of widespread manipulation of conclusions and spurious notoriety of the studies. The content and conclusions of this review should be interpreted in light of this finding.





Plain language summary

Vaccines to prevent influenza in healthy adults
Over 200 viruses cause influenza and influenza-like illness which produce the same symptoms (fever, headache, aches and pains, cough and runny noses). Without laboratory tests, doctors cannot tell the two illnesses apart. Both last for days and rarely lead to death or serious illness. At best, vaccines might be effective against only influenza A and B, which represent about 10% of all circulating viruses. Each year, the World Health Organization recommends which viral strains should be included in vaccinations for the forthcoming season.

Authors of this review assessed all trials that compared vaccinated people with unvaccinated people. The combined results of these trials showed that under ideal conditions (vaccine completely matching circulating viral configuration) 33 healthy adults need to be vaccinated to avoid one set of influenza symptoms. In average conditions (partially matching vaccine) 100 people need to be vaccinated to avoid one set of influenza symptoms. Vaccine use did not affect the number of people hospitalised or working days lost but caused one case of Guillian-Barré syndrome (a major neurological condition leading to paralysis) for every one million vaccinations. Fifteen of the 36 trials were funded by vaccine companies and four had no funding declaration. Our results may be an optimistic estimate because company-sponsored influenza vaccines trials tend to produce results favorable to their products and some of the evidence comes from trials carried out in ideal viral circulation and matching conditions and because the harms evidence base is limited.

PLoS ONE: Functional Exploration of the Adult Ovarian Granulosa Cell Tumor-Associated Somatic FOXL2 Mutation p.Cys134Trp (c.402C>G)

Conclusions/Significance

Here, we confirm the specificity of the FOXL2 c.402C>G mutation in adult OGCTs and begin the exploration of its molecular significance. This is the first study demonstrating that the p.Cys134Trp mutant does not have a strong impact on FOXL2 localization, solubility, and transactivation abilities on a panel of proven target promoters, behaving neither as a dominant-negative nor as a loss-of-function mutation. Further studies are required to understand the specific molecular effects of this outstanding FOXL2 mutation.

abstract/full free access; pilot study assessing social support among cancer patients enrolled

Conclusions: Younger subjects reported worse symptoms, a smaller social support network, and fewer close friends and relatives than older subjects. Having someone to discuss decisions and seeing friends or relatives often was associated with longer survival.

Surviving Idol: Young Adults with Cancer Expressing Themselves