{"id":40115,"date":"2012-03-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-23T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2012\/03\/23\/new-adolescent-young-adult-cancer-guidelines-released\/"},"modified":"2022-09-02T20:32:40","modified_gmt":"2022-09-03T01:32:40","slug":"new-adolescent-young-adult-cancer-guidelines-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2012\/03\/23\/new-adolescent-young-adult-cancer-guidelines-released\/","title":{"rendered":"New adolescent\/young adult cancer guidelines released"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNMC pediatric oncologist, Peter Coccia, M.D.,<\/a> was chairman of a national panel that developed new guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and after therapy for adolescents and young adults with cancer.<\/p>\n

The adolescent and young adult (AYA) group includes individuals between the ages of 15 to 39 years and represents a challenging age group for onocologists to treat successfully. <\/p>\n


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\nPeter Coccia, M.D.<\/span>
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\n<\/TABLE>The American Cancer Society’s Cancer Journal for Clinicians<\/a> notes that remarkable progress has been made in the treatment of those younger than 15 and older than 40 in the last 35 years, but there has been minimal improvement in the survival rate in the 70,000 new AYA patients with invasive cancer diagnosed yearly.<\/p>\n

The guidelines were developed through the National Comprehensive Cancer Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Awareness needed<\/B><\/p>\n

“There is an urgent need for increased awareness of the many unique issues responsible for these poor outcomes in AYA oncology patients,” said Dr. Coccia, who is Ittner professor and vice chairman of pediatrics at UNMC. “We hope and believe these new guidelines will make a difference in how these patients are managed throughout the course of their disease.”<\/p>\n

The guidelines address many of the factors responsible for the disappointing results in AYA patients, which include:
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