Treatments for most cancers in young people are surgery, 
, and and combinations of any or all of these.
Treatment summary for selected cancers in young people
| Cancer | Treatment | |
| Lymphomas | Hodgkin lymphoma | The main treatments are chemotherapy (sometimes in combination with steroids) and radiotherapy. Occasionally surgery is used for nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma, a particularly indolent form of the disease. Stem cell transplants (including bone marrow transplants) are sometimes used for relapsed disease. |
| Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) | ||
| Carcinomas | Although carcinomas together make up the second most common diagnostic group in 15-24 year-olds, they comprise a diverse group of cancer types with a wide range of prognoses. Treatment is dependent on where the primary tumour is located, how aggressive it is, whether it can be surgically removed and whether it has spread to other organs. However, in general, surgery is used for good prognosis tumours, frequently in combination with radiotherapy or chemotherapy. For poor prognosis tumours, treatment may be limited to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. | |
| Germ cell tumours (GCTs) | For extra-cranial GCTs (those occurring outside of the brain), the main treatments are surgery and chemotherapy. For intra-cranial GCTs, combinations of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery are used depending on the type. | |
| Brain, other central nervous system (CNS) and intracranial tumours | Young people can develop a wide range of different types of brain, other CNS and intracranial tumours. In general, surgery is used to remove as much of the tumour as possible. Depending on the type, radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy may also be used. If surgery is not possible, radiotherapy and chemotherapy may be used alone or in combination. | |
| Malignant melanoma | Early or medium-stage melanoma is treated with surgery to remove the lesion (stage 1 and 2) and affected lymph nodes (stage 3). Treatment for metastatic melanoma can include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and biological therapies. | |
| Leukaemia | Acute lymphoid leukaemia (ALL) | Chemotherapy is the main treatment, usually in combination with steroids. Chemotherapy is usually carried out in three phases: remission induction, consolidation, and maintenance. Stem cell transplants (including bone marrow transplants) and biological therapies may be used. Occasionally treatment also involves radiotherapy, either to the brain or to the whole body. Relapsed ALL is usually treated with a combination of chemotherapy and stem cell transplant. |
| Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) | Chemotherapy is the main treatment. Stem cell transplants (including bone marrow transplants) and biological therapies may be used. Occasionally treatment also involves radiotherapy either to the brain or to the whole body. Relapsed AML is usually treated with a combination of chemotherapy and stem cell transplant. | |
| Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) | Treatment is mainly with biological therapies. Sometimes chemotherapy and/or stem cell transplants (including bone marrow transplants) are used. | |
| Bone tumours | A combination of chemotherapy and surgery is usually used. Radiotherapy may also be used, either instead of surgery or in addition to it, particularly for Ewing tumour. Surgery may involve removal of the tumour and some normal tissue around it, or sometimes removal of a whole limb (amputation). | |
| Soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) | Surgery is usually the main treatment for the primary tumour. Radiotherapy may also be used, either before or after surgery. Some types of STS, such as rhabdomyosarcoma, are also treated with chemotherapy. If the tumour cannot be resected, or if it has spread to other organs, radiotherapy or chemotherapy may be used on their own or in combination. | |
See also
References
- Data were provided by Catherine O'Hara and Debasree Purkayastha, North West Cancer Intelligence Service on behalf of the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN); Professor Jillian Birch and Robert Alston, Cancer Research UK Paediatric and Familial Cancer Research Group (University of Manchester), Dr Martin McCabe (University of Manchester), and Charles Stiller, Childhood Cancer Research Group (University of Oxford), on request 2013.
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