Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Program

Contact number | 202-476-3603

Cancer Care for the Unique Needs of Teens and Young Adults

Our team is here to support your teen or young adult throughout their cancer diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care.

The Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Program at Children’s National Hospital provides advanced care for adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15-39 who are diagnosed with cancer.

Our program, developed with funding from Teen Cancer America, is aimed at excelling in the care and support of patients at Children’s National through their cancer diagnosis, treatment and transition to long-term follow-up and beyond.

At Children’s National, we understand that teens and young adults with cancer face different obstacles than other young children and older adults. To support AYA cancer patients, the AYA Cancer Program team partners with the primary Oncology team to identify areas of patient need and create treatment plans to help achieve the best outcomes for your child's diagnosis.

During intake, we focus on understanding the unique needs of AYA patients to determine if they are eligible for the following supports:

Children’s National is home to the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research. This center works on groundbreaking basic and clinical research to help benefit our AYA cancer patients. In addition, we are dedicated to developing novel therapies for cancer and bringing advanced clinical trials to our patients, some of which are only available at Children’s National. We help to enroll AYA patients in our open oncology clinical trials.
In conjunction with our Pediatric Gynecology Program and Urology, we assess our AYA patients' risk for developing infertility and meet with their primary care team to discuss findings and fertility preservation options if needed, such as egg freezing. During this process we work with our patients and their families to counsel them and connect them to the appropriate gynecologists, urologists or endocrinologists.
Our pediatric psychologist meets with every AYA patient to identify and address their psychological and social needs. We understand how important socialization is during the teenage years, so we aim to help our AYA patients navigate peer relationships, discuss their diagnosis with friends and garner support from their loved ones during this difficult time. Our goal is to navigate treatment in a way that promotes meaning, participation in care, confidence in decision-making and healthy coping with the challenges associated with a cancer diagnosis.
We understand that many of our patients are transitioning from middle school to high school to college. Some of our patients are employed and may be parents themselves, so our program helps to make sure that we address these unique needs.
We provide support to adolescent and young adult patients and their families so that they are prepared for life after their treatment.