Melanoma in children, adolescents, and young adults

2017-07-14Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, is among the top 5 most common cancers among adolescents and young adults (AYAs), who have unique underlying biology and face a distinct set of life course challenges that may affect incidence and survival, distinguishing them from younger or older patients. Existing literature predominantly represents patients well over age 50, and very little detail regarding melanoma in young patients exists. To address this deficit, we conducted a set of population-based cancer registry studies, including a detailed descriptive study of incidence and survival characteristics among AYA melanoma patients with comparisons to older and younger patients in California, a large, case-control study to identify early life risk factors for developing melanoma before age 30, and a pilot survey-based study among young adult survivors of melanoma in Los Angeles County to identify important barriers to getting cancer-related follow-up care during survivorship. We found key opportunities to improve melanoma prevention and control among AYA populations. AYA programs, as joint efforts between pediatric and adult oncologists, are gaining momentum to become the standard of care, offering a promising, dynamic approach to improving care of AYAs. Intensifying AYA-specific, site-specific research will only serve to strengthen those efforts by providing the evidence base necessary to justify resource allocation for supporting program development and maintenance to ensure that optimal care for all AYAs is being delivered