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Clinical Trials

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Book cover Cancer in Adolescents and Young Adults

Part of the book series: Pediatric Oncology ((PEDIATRICO))

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Abstract

The concept of the ‘adolescent and young adult (AYA) gap’ in relation to recruitment to cancer clinical trials was first described in 1997. The ‘AYA gap’ refers to the association between lesser survival gains and poorer recruitment to cancer clinical trials for this group. Since then, many countries have reported lesser involvement of AYAs in cancer trials compared to children and older adults. Lately a number of initiatives have served to improve recruitment for AYAs with cancer, and barriers and facilitators to recruitment have been identified. This chapter summarises the concept of clinical trials and some of the challenges faced by AYAs with cancer and the healthcare teams caring for them.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Canadian Cancer Trials Group, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Annette E. Hay MB ChB, MRCP, FRCPath

  2. University College London Hospitals and National Cancer Research Institute, London, UK

    Lorna Fern

  3. Department of Oncology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, USA

    Ralph M. Meyer MD, FRCP(C)

  4. Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Nita Seibel

  5. Departments of Pediatrics, Pathology and Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, USA

    Ronald Barr

Authors
  1. Annette E. Hay MB ChB, MRCP, FRCPath
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  2. Lorna Fern
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  3. Ralph M. Meyer MD, FRCP(C)
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  4. Nita Seibel
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  5. Ronald Barr
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Annette E. Hay MB ChB, MRCP, FRCPath .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Bend, Oregon, USA

    Archie Bleyer

  2. McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Ronald Barr

  3. RiesSearch LLC, Rockville, Maryland, USA

    Lynn Ries

  4. University College Hospital, London, United Kingdom

    Jeremy Whelan

  5. Pediatric Oncology Unit, National Tumor Institute, Milano, Italy

    Andrea Ferrari

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing

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Hay, A.E., Fern, L., Meyer, R.M., Seibel, N., Barr, R. (2017). Clinical Trials. In: Bleyer, A., Barr, R., Ries, L., Whelan, J., Ferrari, A. (eds) Cancer in Adolescents and Young Adults. Pediatric Oncology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33679-4_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33679-4_21

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33677-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33679-4

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