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Oscar Cancer category: Leukemias Cancer type: Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia   Oscar was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia at the age of 25. He is an engineer who wants to pursue his Masters Degree in Structural Engineering, something he wanted to do before his cancer diagnosis.   Oscar’s Story

Encouraging news from the US Dept of Health and Human Services. The Affordable Care Act increases rates of health insurance coverage for YOUNG ADULTS 18 to 25, with the largest gains among minorities. Below is an interview with Dr. Sommers, who discusses his findings about insurance coverage for adolescents and young adults (AYAs).   Author Insights: More Young Adults Insured After Health Reform Law PassedFiled under: Caring for the Uninsured and Underinsured,Health Policy,Primary Care/Family Medicine,Public Health — Bridget M. Kuehn @ 3:04 pm

This is a guest post by WomenHealthZone.com, a blog specializing in womens health. The blog among others covers topics such as breast cancer, fibroids, diabetes, obesity, reproductive health, infertility, birth control, and PMS.   The Truth About the Side Effects of Breast Cancer Therapy  

Scientists recently found primitive “stem cells” in the ovaries of young adult women and have successfully developed those cells into eggs. One of the implications of this finding may be that for young women who have become infertile for reasons such as chemotherapy, they may be able to overcome their oncofertility issues. From NPR's Health Blog   Study Suggests Way To Create New Eggs In Women By: Rob Stein

Amie Fradkin is a 36-year old lawyer (non-practicing right now) who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Glioblastoma brain cancer in 2010. Here is her self-introduction:

Krystle Cancer category: Thyroid Cancers Cancer type: None   Krystle’s thyroid cancer diagnosis opened her eyes to her goals and dreams in life.  She aspires to be a high school teacher. She was diagnosed when she was 21 years old, a fourth year college student at UC Irvine.   Krystle’s Story

Tito Dudley is a student at the Natural Gourmet Institute. Born and raised in New York City, he is a chef, nutrition consultant, personal trainer, natural bodybuilder, actor, and filmmaker. He was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease/Cancer at the age of 15. Dudley says that after his recovery, he made a promise to himself to live a healthier lifestyle. His goal is to help others do the same.  

Anne Creech is a 3-time cancer survivor who is an inspirational example of someone affected by cancer who now advocates for cancer funding for services, research, and education.   3-time Cancer Survivor Named to Lead Patient-Advocacy Effort By: Julie M. McKinnon, Blade Staff Writer   Anne Creech has survived cancer three times in three decades.

Janet Cancer category: Sarcomas Cancer type: None   Janet began battling cancer when she was 8 years old. She had many surgeries from the age of 12 to 27, and was told that she would never get pregnant. Janet is now a mother and she hopes to finish nursing school.   Janet’s Story

Binh Cancer category: Breast cancers Cancer type: None   Binh was 22 years old when she found out she had breast cancer. Her future goals and aspirations are to go back to college, to open her own business one day, and to start a family.   Binh's Story

Nursing experts have come up with tips for cancer survivors to receive quality follow-up care post-treatment. As an AYA cancer patient, follow-up care is crucial to see improved survival rates.   Nursing Times's 10 top tips for getting the best post-cancer treatment support:   1. Discussing your needs with a healthcare professional at the end of treatment

Consider how the major changes to healthcare in 2012 will impact your health, your access to care, and the quality of care you receive. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became law in 2010. Five major changes in healthcare have been or will be in effect in 2012. 1) Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)

The Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults (UCF) provides the opportunity for Young Adults affected by cancer, those diagnosed with cancer or with a family member diagnosed with cancer, to pursue their education. College scholarships are available. Completed applications are due by Friday, March 30th, 2012 5:00pm EST.

For young women with cancer, ob/gyns are the best advocates for patients when it comes to future fertility. Below is a blog post from the Oncofertility Consortium at Northwestern University.   The Role of OB/GYN in Comprehensive Cancer Care POSTED BY ANGELA KRAUSFELDT

Tito Dudley is a student at the Natural Gourmet Institute. Born and raised in New York City, he is a chef, nutrition consultant, personal trainer, natural bodybuilder, actor, and filmmaker. He was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease/Cancer at the age of 15. Dudley says that after his recovery, he made a promise to himself to live a healthier lifestyle. His goal is to help others do the same.  

Angelo Cancer category: Lymphomas Cancer type: None   Angelo was 28 when he was diagnosed with lymphoma. He is currently in remission and working on his business.   Angelo’s Story

 

Eric Ding decided to dedicate his life to accelerating medical research after having an invasive surgery at 17, when he had a tumor removed from behind his breastbone.

Ali Ansary, the Co-founder of SeventyK, tells about the rise of a new cancer segment - the adolescents and young adults (AYAs), those aged 15 to 39, in The Huffington Post. Unlike pediatric or geriatric cancer survival rates which have changed for the better, the survival rates of AYAs have not changed for the past two decades.

Javed Khan, M.D. is a molecular biologist at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) working on the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project. A focus has been placed on pediatric cancer because the number of mutations leading to cancers in children is much less than in the cancers occuring in adults. The project attempts to sequence the genome of tumors from hundreds of children with cancer to identify the genetic changes from children without cancer. With these genetic changes identified and characterized, clinicians may be able to prescribe appropriate treatments to combat specific cancers.

The time has come to vote for the finalist videos of our Stop A Doc Contest! SeventyK's Stop A Doc campaign emphasizes the five important questions for an Adolescent or Young Adult (AYA) cancer patient to ask his or her healthcare provider before receiving treatment. With just these five simple questions, we can spread awareness about the AYA cancer segment and the unique needs that AYAs face. This is a big step for a great change in improving the survival rates of AYAs with cancer.

Dr. Leonard Sender, the founder of SeventyK, shares his insight as the Medical Director of the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Program in the Hyundai Cancer Institute at CHOC Children's and UC Irvine's Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. In order to take a step in the right direction, to improve the survival rates of AYAs with cancer, much of what needs to be changed is the training received by healthcare providers to care for their patients.

The Oncofertility Consortium has launched the FIRST national long-term study to examine how different cancers and treatments affect the fertility and reproductive health of women cancer patients and survivors. Women ages 18-44 who received their cancer diagnosis within 3 years qualify for the study. There is an online questionnaire about women's reproductive health that the participant answers on a yearly basis. This study is funded by the National Institutes of Health and has been approved by the UCSD Institutional Review Board.

Young adults, those ages 18 to 24, was the group most likely to be uninsured. Since 2000, over 25% were uninsured, and the percentage of young adults without health coverage continued to grow throughout the next decade. New surveys now find that young adults have made gains in insurance coverage since 2010. The Obama Administration and officials from the Department of Health and Human Services attribute the gains made in reducing the number of uninsured in the young adult group to a provision of the Affordable Care Act that was implemented in September 2010.

Download the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Cancer Progress Report 2011 here. Read the press release here.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your personal motivation? 

In December of 2007 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Somehow I always actually thought that my daily dedication at the gym in the morning, the healthy lifestyle, constant positive attitude and attention to the golden rule I kept worked as some magical cloak around my shoulders that would protect me from things just like this. I couldn’t believe it, the words hit me like a ton of bricks.

I’m 15 years old and a survivor of cancer. It started when I was 12 years old and in 7th grade. I developed a large goiter on my lower neck. After many tests that came out suspisious I went in to surgery early morning of July 2005. It lasted 6 hours. I had my whole thyroid, 4 lymphoids, and 9 nodules removed all consisting of cancer cells and tumors. I’ll never forget that night when the nurse was wheeling me in to my room and my Mom told me that I did have cancer. I didn’t know how to react or what to say. I was nervous and I didn’t know what was coming up next.

The SeventyK was chatting with Heidi Adams (Founder of Planet Cancer) and asked for her to contribute to the blog. Coincidently she was featured in an op-ed on Stand Up To Cancer. She wanted to feature this for you all- Thanks Heidi.

When we are in our 20′s we think we are indestructible.

Our son, Anthony, was 3 months shy of his 19th birthday when he was diagnosed on April 19, 2007 with Stage 4 Esophageal Cancer. Due to Anthony’s age, we found many gaps in his treatment. While there were many support groups for Pediatric’s (as there should be), we found no emotional or financial support for Anthony’s age group. To summarize the gaps, I would have to begin with the fact that Anthony was told up front that he had only 9-12 months to live.

  Originally posted in February 2010.

GapMinder is a nonprofit based out of Sweden and was acquired by Google recently. Its main spokes person has been Professor Hans Rosling who has been able to demonstrate the beauty of GapMinder in looking at statistics to tell us about the past, present and future. Although some of the data can be sparse, we wanted to take a minute and compare the GDP (wealth) of a country to the cancer deaths per 100,000 women. We looked at five cancers: cervical, breast, colon/rectum, liver and lung.

As recently highlighted in the Huffington Post and Denver Post... Changing Cancer Treatment, Care and Support for Young People