Leeds academics create project to understand how cancer diagnoses affects teenagers and young adults

A growing proportion of the population living with and beyond cancer are working-age cancer survivors, with 300,000 of these estimated to be TYAs aged 16 to 39.

Dan Stark, Medical Oncologist (LIMR) and his colleagues have been awarded an Economic and Social Research Council grant worth ~£800,000 to understand how the social integration of teenagers and young adults (TYAs) is impacted by a cancer diagnosis.

With advances in medical treatments, up to 90% of TYAs now live beyond their treatment, a growing population.

A cancer diagnosis will disrupt anybody's life, resulting in a significant impact on their physical, emotional, social, and economic well-being. This will be even more challenging for young people, diagnosed at a vulnerable time of multiple transitions and emerging adulthood (e.g. completing education, leaving home, becoming financially independent, forging relationships / marrying, having children). The interdisciplinary team comprises Oana Lindner (Psychologist, LIHS), Angharad Beckett, (Sociology), Adam Martin (Health Economics, LIHS) as well as academic and nurse consultants from Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, UCL and University College London Hospitals.

The project begins in September 2019 and will last 3 years.