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STATS & FACTS
Young adults can and do get cancer. Most people, when they think of cancer, don't even consider for a moment that it can happen to an 18 year old. Or a 25 year old. Or a 37 year old. But it does. Help us change this stigma and spread the word that our generation deserves better. The public needs to be aware that we exist... and that we matter, too. Each year: • 72,000 adolescents and young adults aged 15-39 are diagnosed with cancer. º • That's one every eight minutes. • 10,000 young adults die annually due to cancer. º • That's one every hour. • Cancer incidence in young adults has increased more than any other age group. ¹ • Survival rates have not improved at the same rate as other age groups. ¹ • Cancer has become the number one disease killer in young adults. ¹ • Young adults are now the most underserved patient population by age. ¹ • Delayed cancer diagnosis is now disproportionately higher in young adults. ¹ • There are ~1.4M young adult cancer survivors in the United States. • Of the 14M cancer survivors in the United States, one in 10 is under 40. • One in 100 US college students is a cancer survivor. • There are over 350,000 long term childhood cancer survivors in the US under 40. • Young adults get entirely different cancers than other age groups. • The reasons why young adults get cancer are entirely different than that of other age groups. • Clinical trial participation in young adults is lower than other age groups. • There is currently no "young adult cancer research." Funding traditional cancer research most likely will not help a young adult with cancer. Innovation is needed. • Young adults have unique needs that other age groups do not such as fertility, relationships, dating, intimacy, sexuality, singlehood, parenting, insurance, financial assistance, career planning, education and age-appropriate peers support. • Social isolation is the number one issue faced by young adults with cancer. • Quality of life for these patients is as important as quality of care. • The entire medical community and cancer continuum at large is grossly uneducated as to how to effectively communicate with, diagnose, treat, support and follow-up with young adults. • Big box cancer organizations do not currently fund young adult cancer research or support the most basic of social services to the young adult support community, let alone sponsor or underwrite young adult advocacy groups. If these statistics make you want to puke and you truly want to start helping this new generation of cancer survivors, give to the groups without middlemen, where you know where your dollar goes and there is measured impact. Don't get lost in a sea of 100,000 people racing for cures. ¹ source: NCI 'Closing The Gap', 2006 ² source: IOM 'Cancer Care For The Whole Patient', 2007 ³ source: US Census, 2007 |
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The Stupid Cancer Road Trip—sponsored by Volkswagen—came to a fantastic end to kickoff the OMG! Cancer Summit. Check out the finale video! 
After attending an advanced screening, and with permission from Summit Entertainment, Matthew Zachary is proud to share his official "he's not a film critic" review of the game-changing cancer comedy flick, 50/50 
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I'm Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation, a 501(c)(3) under federal tax guidelines. All rights reserved. | ||||||||||
