New Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce launched to save lives
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Teenage Cancer Trust has welcomed the launch of a new Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, which has been created to improve the lives of teenagers and young adults with cancer.
Launched by the Health and Social Care Sectary, Victoria Atkins, Teenage Cancer Trust will feed into the work of the taskforce and help to influence key decisions.
The taskforce will see leading cancer charities, health experts, and the government, work together to explore how to save lives and deliver world-leading cancer services for young people aged up to 24-years-old.
Chaired by Dame Caroline Dinenage, the taskforce will explore:
- DNA testing and treatment: Ensuring children and young people get access to high-quality personalised therapies, new treatments and personalised medicines are more readily available. They will also examine what this currently looks like in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
- Faster diagnosis: This project will look into: awareness campaigns on common signs and symptoms of cancer in young people; improvements to the process of diagnosis; reducing delays to starting treatment once a young person has received diagnosis; and increasing the range of available treatment options
- Research: This will explore ways to encourage research through measures including: greater access to data for researchers; enhancing young people’s access to clinical trials; and closer international collaboration.
While rare cancers in children and young people are one of the biggest causes of death from illness and disease in England and Wales, more children and young people are surviving than ever before, but the long-term impacts can remain significant.
We welcome the launch of the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce and we are looking forward to working alongside other experts to help address some of the challenges teenagers and young adults with cancer face.
Kate Collins, Chief Executive at Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “We welcome the launch of the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce and we are looking forward to working alongside other experts to help address some of the challenges teenagers and young adults with cancer face.
“Cancer is different when you’re young. It can be harder to get a diagnosis because symptoms can often be mistaken for another illness, and research into this age group can be limited, meaning there are fewer clinical trials available for them.
“There is a lot to do to ensure that the needs of this age group are fully represented. By working in partnership and using our expertise, we are helping to ensure that teenagers and young adults continue to receive the best possible care and support.”
Health and Social Care Secretary, Victoria Atkins, said: “Discovering your child has cancer is among the worst news a parent can receive. Thanks to the remarkable progress in treatment and research survival rates are higher than ever however even then life changing consequences can remain.
“This taskforce will help bring together world-leading experts and those who have dedicated their lives to fighting cancer to discuss how we can go further faster and to drive progress in cancer care for children and young people.
“I am pleased we have such a respected figure as Dame Caroline leading the discussions and we look forward to working with all those on the taskforce to make child cancer care faster, simpler and fairer for all.
“Fairness was also the theme of this year’s World Cancer Day on Sunday, which shone a light on inequalities in cancer care across the globe.
“Through targeted lung cancer screening focusing on deprived areas, and prostate cancer screening trials with an emphasis on black men, we’re targeting the disparities that exist at home, making sure everyone can access first class cancer care.”
Chair of the Taskforce, Dame Caroline Dinenage, said: “A few years ago, I met Charlotte Fairall, whose daughter Sophie had died from Rhabdomyosarcoma.
She identified a number of improvements, big and small, that would have made a difference. Since then we have met with experts from a range of fields, as well as numerous other parents.
“It’s an honour to be asked to chair the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, bringing together key figures who can make progress across three key areas; genomics, detection and diagnosis, and research and innovation.
“There is an abundance of expertise and enthusiasm amongst researchers, clinicians and campaigners. My role is to harness this energy to drive action to improve outcomes for children and young people with cancer.”
Why is cancer different when you’re young?
Facing cancer is incredibly hard at any age. But there are lots of reasons cancer can hit young people even harder:
- Getting a cancer diagnosis in the first place is harder. Although cancer in teenagers and young adults is more common than you might think, it’s still relatively rare, and symptoms can often be mistaken for growing pains or infections. A survey showed that nearly half (47%) of teenagers and young adults diagnosed with cancer had to see their GP three or more times before referral – the most out of any age group.
- Cancer treatments can be less effective for young people. The physical changes and rapid growth we go through during puberty and young adulthood can negatively affect how the body metabolises chemotherapy drugs, for example, or can lead to more severe side-effects with a higher risk of short and long-term complications.
- Accessing clinical trials can be harder. Clinical trials help researchers find new and better treatments. But many trials are designed for children or older adults, meaning teenagers and young adults might not be eligible to join or won’t get treatment tailored to their age group. And because there are lots of different types of cancer that can affect young people, patient numbers for each cancer type are small, which makes it harder to recruit and run trials.