Risk of suicide among adolescents and young adults with cancer and a need for targeted interventions.

Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with cancer are defined as individuals who receive their cancer diagnosis between 15 and 39 years of age based on the definition by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (1). Cancer incidence in the AYA population has been increasing with more than 1.2 million AYAs estimated to be newly diagnosed with cancer in 2018 worldwide (2,3). AYAs with cancer have higher survival rates than older patients for most types of cancer in high-income countries (4). Even so, survival rates are less improved in AYAs than in children and older adults for certain types of cancer (4) and AYAs with cancer also have an increased risk of death from noncancer causes (5). The loss of healthy life-years by cancer is greater in AYAs than in older adults, leading to decreased productivity in society.