American Brain Tumor Association Adolescent and Young Adult Primary Brain and Central Nervous System Tumors Diagnosed in the United States in 2008-2012

1. Quinn T. Ostrom, M.A., M.P.H.1,2,
2. Haley Gittleman, M.S.1,2,
3. Peter M. de Blank, M.D., M.S.C.E.1,3,
4. Jonathan L. Finlay, M.B., Ch.B., F.R.C.P.4,
5. James G. Gurney, Ph.D.5,
6. Roberta McKean-Cowdin, Ph.D.6,
7. Duncan S. Stearns, M.D.1,3,
8. Johannes E. Wolff, M.D.7,
9. Max Liu8,
10. Yingli Wolinsky, Ph.D., M.B.A.1,2,
11. Carol Kruchko, B.A.2 and
12. Jill S. Barnholtz-Sloan, Ph.D.1,2

Brain and central nervous system (CNS) tumors found in adolescents and young adults (AYA) are a distinct group of tumors that pose challenges not only to treatment but also to reporting. Overall, cancer that occurs in this age group is biologically distinct from those that occur in both younger and older age groups^1,2 posing significant challenges for clinicians. The most commonly diagnosed histologies in AYA vary from those in both children age (0-14 years), and older adults (40+ years).^3,4 Prognosis and expected survival also varies between younger and older adults, with those who are diagnosed with brain and CNS tumors at younger ages having significantly longer survival. Despite this survival advantage, recent analyses have reported that while cancer survival has been improving overall, AYA have not experienced these same increases in survival and in some cases may have worse survival than those cancers diagnosed in persons over age 40 years.⁵ This report provides an in depth analyses of the epidemiology of brain and CNS tumors in adolescents and young adults in the United States (US), and is the first report to provide histology-specific statistics in this population for both malignant and non-malignant brain and other CNS tumors.

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READ MORE: http://neuro-oncology.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/suppl_1/i1.full