Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2010 Nov 10;28(32):4790-9.
doi: 10.1200/JCO.2010.28.3473. Epub 2010 May 3.

Clinical pharmacology in the adolescent oncology patient

Gareth J Veal  1 , Christine M Hartford, Clinton F Stewart
Affiliations
Review

Clinical pharmacology in the adolescent oncology patient

Gareth J Veal et al. J Clin Oncol. .

Abstract

Numerous studies have documented that adolescents and young adults (AYAs) experience a significant cancer burden as well as significant cancer mortality compared with other age groups. The reasons for the disparate outcomes of AYAs and other age groups are not completely understood and are likely to be multifactorial, including a range of sociodemographic issues unique to these individuals as well as differences between adolescents, younger pediatric patients, and adults in the pharmacology of anticancer agents. Because adolescence is a period of transition from childhood to early adulthood, numerous physical, physiologic, cognitive, and behavioral changes occur during this time. In this review, we provide an overview of the unique developmental physiology of the adolescent and explain how these factors and the behavioral characteristics of adolescents may affect the pharmacology of anticancer agents in this patient population. Finally, we describe examples of studies that have assessed the relation between drug disposition and age, focusing on the AYA age group.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and author contributions are found at the end of this article.

Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Five-year survival rates in adolescents and young adults compared with older and younger patients. The light orange background zone designates the age range of 15 to 29 years. (A) Cancers with survival rates that are lower in adolescents and young adults than in younger and older patients. (B) Cancers with survival rates that are lower in adolescents and young adults than in younger patients. Data adapted. NHL, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; ALL, acute lymphocytic leukemia.
Fig 2.
Fig 2.
Change in 5-year survival rates by age and treatment era. Data adapted. Gray, improvement in survival for patients age 0 to 14 years between 1975 and 1998; light orange, improvement in survival for patients age 15 to 39 years between 1975 and 1998; light blue, improvement in survival for patients older than 40 years between 1975 and 1998.
Fig 3.
Fig 3.
During the normal pubertal process, adolescents experience numerous physiologic, physical, and psychosocial changes that can affect drug disposition. BMI, body mass index.
Fig 4.
Fig 4.
Relation between developmental changes and chronologic and bone age. Data adapted.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bleyer A, Barr R, Hayes-Lattin B, et al. The distinctive biology of cancer in adolescents and young adults. Nat Rev Cancer. 2008;8:288–298. - PubMed
    1. Bleyer A. Older adolescents with cancer in North America deficits in outcome and research. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2002;49:1027–1042. - PubMed
    1. Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Progress Review Group: Closing the Gap. Research and Care Imperatives for Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer. Bethesda, MD: Department of Health and Human Services; 2006. National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, and the LiveStrong Young Adult Alliance.
    1. Bleyer A. Young adult oncology: The patients and their survival challenges. CA Cancer J Clin. 2007;57:242–255. - PubMed
    1. Bleyer A. Adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology: The first A. Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 2007;24:325–336. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances