Each year, more then 70,000 young adults in their 20s and 30s are diagnosed with cancer. Between 1.2 million to three million additional people will be affected by their cancer diagnoses when you consider their spouses, family members, and close friends. Young adults with cancer face unique challenges that require specific attention and focus.

What is cancer?

• Cancer is a group of more than 100 different diseases.
  
  
• Cancer occurs when cells in the body form a lump or mass called a tumor. Cancer may also occur in the blood and bone marrow.
  
  
• Tumors can be benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body and usually are not life threatening. Malignant tumors grow, and have the potential to invade other tissues in the body.
  
  
• Cancer can begin almost anywhere in the body.

These cancers are the most common ones that affect young adults:

• Lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes, the tiny, bean-shaped organs that help fight disease)
  
  
• Leukemia (cancer of the blood and bone marrow)
  
  
• Germ cell tumors (germ cells are special cells in a developing embryo that become the testes in males and the ovaries in females)
  
  
• Melanoma (a type of skin cancer)
  
  
• Thyroid cancer (cancer that beings in the thyroid gland, which is located in the front of the neck)
  
  
• Soft tissue sarcoma (cancer that develops in supportive and connective tissue such as fat, muscle, nerves, tendons, joints, blood vessels, and lymph nodes).

Doctors are learning that cancer in young adults may have different features than cancer in older adults, and this information may help guide the development of better treatments in the future. Find more information about different cancer types and the ongoing research and treatment options available.

Special concerns for young adults with cancer

Young adults with cancer face a different set of challenges than older and younger people with cancer such as:

• Delay in diagnosis: symptoms, may be dismissed as other medical conditions because of the age of young adults
  
  
• Lack of health insurance and financial resources: young adults may no longer be covered under their parents’ insurance or they do not have a job that provides insurance. (Learn more about managing the cost of your cancer care.)
  
  
• Difficulty navigating the health care system: many young adults have no prior experience with a complex diagnosis such as cancer.

Despite the many challenges young adults with cancer may face, it is important that they receive the care they need, both for their recovery and well-being. Young adults face both the physical and psychosocial challenges, and it is important to find out how to address both.

More Information

All About Cancer

Newly Diagnosed

Cancer in Young Adults