STRONG-AYA
Project Duration: October 2022 to September 2027
Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) with a cancer diagnosis form a unique group. They face age-specific issues (e.g. infertility, unemployment, financial problems) and decreased quality of life due to cancer and its treatment.
The STRONG-AYA project is coordinated by the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) and is a new, interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder European network to improve healthcare services, research and outcomes for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) with cancer, defined as individuals aged 15-39 years.
ECO is the Work Package Leader of Work Package 4, which consists of the operation of ecosystems and stakeholder/patient involvement and dissemination, exploitation and communication activities to ensure STRONG-AYA network sustainability and scalability in the long-term.
The project will develop a Core Outcome Set (COS) for AYAs with cancer that will be implemented in 5 national healthcare systems (France, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Poland) and establish national infrastructures for outcome data management, clinical decision-making and a pan-European ecosystem.
Caught in the Middle: Identifying Gaps for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with Cancer
Resulting from an extensive stakeholder forum, this 2024 report highlights a series of lessons and recommendations to provide a brighter future for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer.
‘Addressing the needs of cancer patients aged 15 to 39 years old is a pressing issue,’ said Winette van der Graaf, president of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer and head of medical oncology at the Netherlands Cancer Institute.
‘This demographic faces age-specific issues such as infertility, unemployment, and financial problems due to cancer and its treatment. This new report highlights the key areas where Europe must do better and will inform STRONG-AYA’s multi-stakeholder network, launched through our EU-funded project.’
