Teen cancer treatment could improve

Cancer treatment for teenagers and young adults could be improving faster, experts say today.

Specialist clinical trials would help develop better treatment for this age group, according to Cancer Research UK.

Its study of the fate of young adult patients shows big improvements in survival in the last 40 years.

In the mid-1970s some 580 teenagers and adults died from cancer every year and by 2010 this had fallen to 300 a year.

The biggest improvement has affected those afflicted by leukaemia. At the end of the last century these killed 54 young adults and teenagers annually – but this has now fallen to 39 a year.

About 2,100 teenagers and young adults are diagnosed with cancer every year – and about 20% of these contract lymphoma.

The experts say the rate of cancer in this age group is rising.

Professor Jillian Birch, from Manchester University, said: “We’ve made great progress in helping more teenagers and young adults survive cancer, and today over 80 per cent will beat the disease.

"But there remains a problem with getting teenagers and young adults on to clinical trials – less than 20 per cent are on trials compared to around 50 to 70 per cent of children."

She added: “We need to drastically improve this so that we can develop better treatments, help more teenagers and young adults survive the disease and offer hope to patients with harder to treat cancers."

Cancer Research UK chief executive Dr Harpal Kumar said: “Drug development and clinical trials are at the heart of helping more teenagers and young adults both survive cancer and live a full life after their treatment.

"Too many young people are left out of clinical trials due to rigid age restrictions and this must change for us to continue to see improvements across all cancer types."

* A report today says the British NHS should do more to involve children in its decision-making.

The report from Children’s Commissioner Maggie Atkinson says fewer than 30% of local health plans show evidence of participation from children and young people in their development.