Adolescent cancer sufferers should be treated in clinical trials
EMBARGOED UNTIL 12.00 NOON SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2004
Adolescent and young adult cancer sufferers in Victoria miss out on benefits of treatment in clinical trials because they are poorly recruited into these trials, according to research published in the current issue of The Medical Journal of Australia.
Children and adolescents and young people with a variety of cancers have higher survival rates if treated in clinical trials and at specialised centres.
Research co authored by Dr Anne Mitchell, Clinical Research Fellow, from the Department of Haematology and Oncology at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, shows that younger children suffer a similar incidence of cancer to adolescents and young people, but the older age group is less likely to participate in clinical trials.
The study reviewed all adolescents and young adults aged from 10-24 years who were diagnosed with cancer between 1992 and 1996, identified from the Victorian Cancer Registry.
"Recruitment into clinical trials decreased with increasing age," Dr Mitchell said.
"It is unclear why adolescents and young adults with cancer have such low rates of recruitment into clinical trials, but barriers do exist.
"Adolescents aged 10-19 years were more likely to be recruited to a clinical trial if treated at a paediatric hospital.
"In adolescents and young adults with bone tumours, we demonstrated that treatment at a paediatric teaching hospital, where recruitment into clinical trials was more common, was associated with improved outcome.
"The prognosis for some cancers appears to worsen with age, but in this study it was not possible to separate the influence of increasing age from the potentially adverse influence of poor recruitment into clinical trials on patient survival.
"Appropriate management of adolescents and young adults requires communication and cooperation between all adult and paediatric specialists involved in cancer treatment.
"Establishment of a cancer resource network in Victoria may provide information to both paediatric and adult oncologists about currently available clinical trials," Dr Mitchell said.
There has been an increase in cancer in all age groups in Victoria in the past 20 years, but particularly among adolescents and young adults, who experienced an increase of 30 per cent from 1993 to 2001.
The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.
CONTACT Dr Anne Mitchell 03 9345 5652 / 0404 864 067
Judith Tokley, AMA 02 6270 5471 / 0408 824 306