Spectrum of cancer in adolescents and young adult: An epidemiological and clinicopathological evaluation

INTRODUCTION: Changing scenario of cancer in adolescents and young adult (AYA) age group becomes an emerging and alarming problem. The age span that falls under the AYA umbrella, i.e., 15-29 years, is broad and having unique characteristic as compared to older and pediatric cohort. Only a few data are available in English literature about this age group where the spectrum of cancer varies accordingly as the function of age. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence and pattern of tumor in adolescents and young age group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study was done at a tertiary care center. Medical records of patients aged 15-29 years registered from 2011 to 2015 were retrieved for analysis. RESULTS: Incidence rate of malignancy in AYA age is 5.71% in this observational study. Male: female ratio was 1.81:1. Most common cancer in this age group was head and neck cancer > central nervous system > gastrointestinal tract in the entire cohort. CONCLUSION: The malignancy spectrum, their subtypes, and demographic distribution in the AYA cohort have diversity among different cancer centers within India as well as in different countries across the world.