Adolescents and young adults should be included in clinical trials

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

A study from the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) reports that age limits on clinical trials need to be more flexible to allow access to new treatments for teenage and young adult patients with cancer. The study was funded by NCRI and the Teenage Cancer Trust. It found that broader age limits in clinical trials resulted in more teenagers and young adults participating in clinical trials. As a result, the number of younger patients participating in clinical trials between 2005 and 2010 increased by 13% for those age 15 to 19 years, 5% for those age 20 to 24 years, and 6% for those younger than 14 years. In light of this study, Cancer Research UK has started asking researchers to justify age restrictions on new studies in an effort to recruit more teenage patients with cancer onto its trials.