Cancer in teenagers and young adults (15 - 24 years old) accounts for less than 1% of all cancer diagnoses in the UK each year. However, the impact of cancer can be devastating.
Carcinomas (breast, cervix and bowel), melanomas (skin) and lymphomas are the most common diagnoses in this age group. Around two-thirds of all cancer diagnoses in teenagers and young adults occur in age 20 -24 year olds.
Cancer is the most common cause of death from disease in young people. Around 250 teenagers and young adults die from cancer each year in the UK. But, survival for teenage and young adult cancer is improving. There have been huge improvements in cancer treatment for this age group in the past 50 years. Over 8 in 10 teenagers and young adults (87%) diagnosed with cancer in the UK now survive for at least five years; but some cancer groups and types have much lower survival rates. The death rate from cancer in this age group in the UK has halved since the mid-1970s.
There is a network of specialist centres, known as Principal Treatment Centres, for diagnosing and treating children’s, teenage and young adult cancers.
This information is about cancer in teenagers and young adults (age 15 - 24 years). To find out more about cancer in children (age 0-14 years) see our information about cancer in children.
