There is more to a cancer diagnosis when it involves adolescents and young adults (AYA). Being in the most productive age group of 15 to 39 years, a cancer diagnosis could affect them in more than one way. For doctors in Tamil Nadu, the challenges are multifold: on one hand, the increasing incidence of cancers in this age group is a growing concern, while on the other hand are a myriad of other issues, including psychosocial impacts on patients.
I. Vijay Sundar, associate professor and neurosurgeon, Department of Surgical Oncology, Cancer Institute (WIA) lists out commonly-seen cancers in AYAs (15 to 39 years) in India. “Various types of blood cancers and brain cancers are the most common in the 15-24 age group, and cancers of the breast, thyroid, mouth and tongue constituted the leading sites between 30 and 39 years,” he said.
The overall cancer cases in the age group of 15–29 registered in five urban cancer registries in India were 5.8% of the total cancers, he said.
