Teenage and young adult cancer deaths reduced by half

The number of teenagers and young adults dying from cancer in Britain has dropped from roughly 580 per year to around 300, a new study has determined.

Cancer Research UK found that, In the 1975-77 period, the number stood at 580 per year, though it reduced to roughly 300 in the 2008-2010 time frame, illustrating the big difference that has been made thanks to advancements in research.

Between the same two periods, the cancer death rates of teenagers and young adults have fell by nearly half, dropping from 74.5 to 37.7 per million of people aged between 15 and 24 years old.

Experts believe that the changes in the way that some teenagers and young adults are treated means they are now faring better for some cancers, including leukaemias.

Over the course of the last 15 years in Britain, the most significant drop in deaths was in the leukaemias, falling from an average of 54 per year in 1995-1999 to 39 in 2006-2010 in young males.

For females, the figure dropped from an average of 38 to 21 deaths per year.

Professor Jillian Birch, a Cancer Research UK teenage cancer expert and collaborator on the report from The University of Manchester, 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."

Ms Birch explained that this rate needs to be drastically improved so that better treatments can be developed, which will help more teenagers and young adults to survive the disease.

She noted that the new Manchester Cancer Research Centre will play a key role in such work by bringing together a range of expertise to improve cancer treatment.

Posted by Fiona Griffiths