Young-Adult Cancer Survivors Face Unique Challenges

Extract

Sixteen years ago, while washing her hair, Anne Willis found a bump on the back of her head. She didn’t think much of it because her parents had a history of sebaceous cysts. Still, she visited her family doctor and dermatologist, who concurred: It was nothing serious.

A few months later, as she prepared to leave the same dermatologist’s office for an unrelated issue, the doctor suddenly called her back. “My hand was literally on the door to leave the office, and he said he wanted to examine the bump on the back of my head,” said Willis. “We were standing in the hallway when he examined me. He became alarmed since the growth was now the size of an egg. He told me I had to get it biopsied, and I did.”

Anne Willis, aged 15 years, was soon diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. She unwillingly joined an understudied and largely misunderstood group: adolescents and young adults (aged 15–39 years) with cancer, also known as AYAs.