Navigating Complexity In AYA Oncology: Multidimensional Concerns across the Care Continuum

Over 85,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs; ages 15-39) will be diagnosed with cancer this year. A cancer diagnosis during this period of the life course can introduce significant emotional, financial, and relational stressors. These include disruptions to identity development, education progress, and career entry and impairments to psychosocial well-being, sexual health, and fertility. Given the complex and often co-occurring nature of these concerns, tailored, interdisciplinary support is required for mitigation. As survival rates among AYAs with cancer continue to improve, the growing population of survivors underscores the critical need to address their unique developmental experiences.

Applying a developmental life course theory framework, this roundtable, which was coordinated with the Oncology Special Interest Group, will discuss key AYA concerns and issues throughout the cancer care continuum, from diagnosis into treatment and through survivorship and end-of-life. The chair of the session, BT (UNC School of Social Work [SSW]), will first briefly orient attendees to the disruption a cancer diagnosis can inflict on development during the AYA years and highlight access and outcome disparities faced by AYAs. Roundtable speakers will then characterize the current state of the literature and highlight novel ongoing research across several multidimensional psychosocial concepts in AYA cancer: CA (University of Minnesota Medical School ) will explore sexual health and fertility considerations; RB (University of Michigan SSW and Department of Psychology) will discuss cancer-related distress, with a focus on dyads and the family unit; MC (University of Texas at Austin SSW) will address resilience during and after treatment; LM (University of Connecticut SSW) will cover treatment-related decision making; and YW (Colorado State University SSW) will examine meaning making at the end of life.

The session will conclude with a facilitated discussion focused on the role of social work in advancing research and clinical practice to support AYAs with cancer, with particular attention to promoting agency, addressing inequities, and integrating anti-oppressive approaches. This dialogue aims to highlight opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and to identify priorities for future research into practice innovation and policy development, with an overarching goal of advancing equitable and developmentally responsive psychosocial care for AYAs with cancer.