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Unique Characteristics of Cancer in Adolescents?

Adolescents and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) usually have a worse prognosis compared with children. Young people with breast and colon cancers usually fare worse than adults. In each of these cases, can survival differences be attributed to differences in cancer biology among adolescents and young adults and/or to other factors? To discuss these matters, a workshop was convened in 2009 by the National Cancer Institute and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. As summarized by Tricoli et al. (p. 628 ) , the presentations examined genetic differences in ALL, breast, and colon cancers that might define subtypes prevalent in adolescent and young adult populations. They also examined other biological features and the epidemiology of these three cancers. Finally, some clinical trials were presented that aimed to determine whether different therapies might be more effective for this age group. The authors encourage further research on this topic.