Prognosis for NHL patients in their 20s worse than for children and teens

A survival analysis study using information from population-based cancer registries from 1992 through 2001 indicate that young adults (ages 20 to 29) were around twice as likely to die from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma than children and teens (ages 0 to 19) with the disease, even after NHL subtype and stage at diagnosis have been accounted for.

Researchers from US government agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reached the following conclusion:

• "Being a young adult at diagnosis and having a higher stage of disease at diagnosis were associated with higher risk of death from NHL. Increasing survival with NHL is dependent on receiving appropriate cancer therapy. Therefore, efforts to address survival should include improving enrollment in clinical trials as well as increasing access to care."

The findings were published in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine for March 2010.

Source: Differences in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Survival Between Young Adults and Children